Woman marches again

Fresh from a two-day stint in jail for picketing a Las Vegas jewelry store, Diana Bickel was at it again Monday, playing it safe by pacing the median on Sahara Avenue.

It was three days before Valentine's Day, and Bickel was showing no love for the Tower of Jewels and its owner, Jack Weinstein.

"I am scared to death," the 52-year-old Bickel said, tears streaming down her face. "But this is right before Valentine's Day, and people come in with stars in their eyes and they don't know who he (Weinstein) is."

Weinstein declined to be interviewed for this story.

Bickel was released from jail Thursday after District Judge Susan Johnson ordered her incarceration last week for disobeying a court order to stay off the store's property.

"I never saw that coming," Bickel said. "I was appalled. I can't tell you how upset I was. I cried for 42 hours."

The feud between Bickel and the Tower of Jewels has triggered a debate about First Amendment rights and public domain. Bickel's attorney, Barry Levinson, and the American Civil Liberties Union have vowed to take the case to federal court.

Bickel was furious with the jewelry store after she bought a 1.32-carat, heart-shaped diamond for $7,000. She said she lost the diamond because it was improperly set in her ring. When she returned to the store, she was told that the diamond should have been fitted in a bezel setting. It was not.

She demanded a new diamond, but after months of negotiations, she said Weinstein offered only to sell her a one-carat diamond for $3,800.

Bickel also said she bought a half-carat diamond for $1,200. The diamond was supposed to match another diamond to make a set of earrings. Bickel said the diamonds did not match.

Aaron Maurice, an attorney representing the Tower of Jewels, said the two sides agreed on a compromise. Weinstein was willing to sell Bickel a diamond at a discounted price and deliver it to her last month. When Bickel began picketing the business, Weinstein rejected the deal.

Tower of Jewels took Bickel to court last month after she hoisted signs in front of the store that read: "I have a problem with Tower of Jewels" and "I want my cash back Jack."

The boundaries of public domain are blurred along Sahara, which is the boundary between Las Vegas and Clark County. When the thoroughfare was widened, the county took the property on the south side from private landowners. The city on the north side, where the jewelry store is, did not.

On Jan. 22, Johnson ruled that Bickel was trespassing and ordered her to stop picketing on the privately owned north side of Sahara.

Bickel was taken back to court when she resumed picketing on the crosswalk that spans Sahara. She did not realize the store owned the land to the corner, where Bickel repeatedly pushed the pedestrian crossing signal. That is when Johnson threw her in jail.

Bickel insists she is not trying to anger Johnson or disobey the court; she simply wants Tower of Jewels to refund her money.

"People should stand up for their rights," she said.

Bickel, a stagehand for Strip productions, appeared to receive support Monday from passers-by. Motorists honked and gave her a thumbs up; some stopped at the traffic light and told her to keep up her battle.

"The public has been so supportive," Bickel said shortly before returning home to reapply sunscreen and grab some water. "They yell, 'You go, girl!'"