Kent MallettNewark Advocate
NEWARK − The decorations policy at city-owned Cedar Hill Cemetery is a source of dispute again this year, but with a twist: A lawsuit alleging violation of First Amendment rights.
Loren Barber, who protested against the new grave decorations policy last year, alleges Cedar Hill Cemetery Superintendent Chance Patznick violated his First Amendment rights when she asked Newark Police officers to arrest Barber for talking with other cemetery visitors about the decorations policy.
Barber seeks a declaration that Patznick and the city of Newark violated his First Amendment rights, compensatory damages in excess of $25,000, punitive damages based on malicious, reckless and wanton conduct, and a jury trial. A scheduling conference has been set for 3:30 p.m. Aug. 6 with Licking County Common Pleas Court Judge David Branstool.
In the lawsuit, Barber claims Patznick called the police on April 24, asking them to arrest Barber and charge him with trespassing at his daughter’s grave site. Barber's daughter, Jaime, died Sept. 30, 2015, at age 23.
“Two officers from the Newark Police Department arrived at Cedar Hill Cemetery, approached Loren Barber, and told him that they had received a report that Loren Barber was ‘making people feel uncomfortable,' " according to the lawsuit.
Barber further alleges the call log reveals Patznick called 911 and said two people said Barber made them feel uncomfortable.
According to the lawsuit, “Chance Patznick stated that Loren Barber ‘was approaching the females and was being pushy about joining some kind of protest.’ Chance Patznick stated that one of the individuals advised that ‘she almost pepper spayed Loren Barber.' ”
Barber states in his lawsuit that he was visiting his daughter’s grave on April 24, when he spoke with two other cemetery visitors, telling them the cemetery management planned to remove all decorations the following week.
He said the conversation lasted less than five minutes and he was at least 50 feet away from the women. After the conversation, he states he returned to his daughter’s grave site.
Police detained Barber for several minutes, the lawsuit states.
“Loren Barber suffered significant emotional harm that was caused by the fear of not being able to visit the grave site of his daughter, which resulted from the actions taken by Superintendent Chance Patznick,” the lawsuit states.
Asked for a response to the lawsuit, Patznick replied, “I do not have a comment due to pending litigation.”
Mayor Jeff Hall said, “We’re doing a great job. The cemetery is thousands and thousands of lots. We’ve got a phenomenal amount of people that are very supportive of the way it’s running. The overwhelming majority.
“It’s tough. You can’t have everybody do just what they want to do. There’s rules you’ve got to follow. There’s things you’ve got to do.”
Barber’s lawsuit states, he has “engaged in protected First Amendment activity by disagreeing with the decoration policy at Cedar Hill Cemetery, voicing disagreement in public and private forums, and petitioning the city of Newark to refrain from removing decorations from the grave site of Mr. Barber’s daughter, including solar lights.”
He acknowledged in the lawsuit he has encouraged others to express their views on the decoration policy, which bans artificial decorations on grave sites from April 1 to Oct. 31.
The city is also liable, Barber states, because it failed to train its employees, resulting in an indifference to Constitutional rights, and after notified of Patznick’s actions, failed to acknowledge wrongdoing.
After her appointment to cemetery superintendent, Patznick interrupted Barber grieving at his daughter’s grave site to warn him his solar light at her grave “had to go,” according to the lawsuit. Barber said the purpose of the solar light was so "she would never be in the dark."
Barber states that his family chose Cedar Hill Cemetery partially because decorations were allowed. The policy changed last year, prompting Barber and many others to pack City Council chambers in protest.
Last year, the removal of decorations from grave sites infuriated those who have loved ones buried at the cemetery.
Patznick, who became superintendent in early 2023, said the only decorations removed were broken or blown away by March windstorms. She said she’s trying to improve the cemetery’s appearance.
Critics said their decorations were found in the trash a half-mile away, far away from the grave sites, and could not possibly have blown there. Some were broken, but some were not.
They also objected to the treatment of small U.S. flags removed from graves and thrown onto the ground near the trash or into the trash.
This spring, those considered to be in violation of the policy received warnings inside plastic bags attached to wires placed in the ground at the grave sites. Some critics said the hundreds of bags were more unsightly and the wires more dangerous than any of the banned decorations.
Sharon Parsons, of Bexley, who grew up in Newark and visits her father and son buried at Cedar Hill, said her family also chose the location because of the previous policy on decorations.
“It was like an unwritten rule,” Parsons said. “If you have a stone, flush with the ground and there’s no decorations, you went to Newark Memorial Gardens. If you want to bury your loved ones and want some kind of decoration on your grave, you went to Cedar Hill.
“That’s why my parents purchased plots there and why I purchased my son’s there. They’re trying to change the whole culture.”
kmallett@newarkadvocate.com
740-973-4539
Twitter: @kmallett1958
