Nader sues debate commission for barring his attendance at first face-off

Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader '55 filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday in Boston against the Commission on Presidential Debates, claiming the CPD violated his civil rights by barring him from attending the first presidential debate.

According to the suit, the CPD used police to prevent Nader from entering a viewing room because of his affiliation with the Green Party and because he had publicly criticized the commission and his opponents' parties.

Nader was excluded from attending the debate between Texas Gov. George W. Bush and Vice President Al Gore on Oct. 3 at the University of Massachusetts despite receiving a ticket from a local college student. Nader then was removed from the campus, where Nader spokesmen said he was scheduled for a television interview with FOX News.

"He was excluded from the debate premises despite having a ticket and a pre-scheduled interview because of his political beliefs," said Tom Adkins, a Nader campaign spokesman. "The CPD badly abused its own power. They use local law enforcement to enforce its own will."

But CPD spokesman John Scardino said yesterday that Nader never had a valid ticket for the debate.

"The important thing to note is Mr. Nader was trying to gain access to the debate hall with a ticket for an alternate viewing event we did not sponsor," Scardino said.

In addition, Scardino said CPD has a clearly defined process for news media organizations who want to invite guests to the debate — a process FOX did not follow.

"That means his suit doesn't have merit," he said.

Nader's suit charges the CPD, its co-chairmen Paul Kirk and Frank Fahrenkopf, three state police officers and security consultant John Vezeris with violation of federal law and the Massachusetts Civil Rights Act.

"The Massachusetts State Police unlawfully carried out the order of a private group," Adkins said.

The lawsuit is the first step in the Green Party's planned war against the debate commission and the bulwark of the two-party system, according to Adkins.

And Nader vowed Tuesday that he would work to dismantle the CPD and create an alternate debate commission, Adkins added.

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"We want to wrest control of the presidential debates from the two major parties and give it to the American people," Adkins said. "We want a debate commission whose goal is to protect democracy not the two major parties."

According to a campaign statement, after the election, Nader will establish an independent debate commission, in which citizens will organize presidential debates.

Nader also was banned from the third and final presidential debate Tuesday night at Washington University in St. Louis. This time, Nader had a valid pass but still was denied access to campus. He again was turned away despite having an interview scheduled with WUTV, the campus television station.

Adkins said, however, he did not know whether Nader would file a second lawsuit.