republicans push anti-protest laws · 2017-02-02 · republicans push anti-protest laws ... matter...

Kira LernerPolitical Reporter at ThinkProgress. Contact me: [email protected] · 5 min read

Follow

Republicans push anti-protest lawsBills targeting nonviolent protests are multiplying acrossthe country.

As people critical of President Trump’s Muslim ban flocked to airports

this weekend to show their support for immigrants and refugees, one

major airport decided to crack down on protesters.

Demonstrators holds banners and signs as they protest during a march in downtown Washington in opposition of President-elect Donald Trump, Sunday,Jan. 15, 2017. CREDIT: AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana

Republicans push anti-protest laws https://thinkprogress.org/anti-protest-legislation-...

1 of 7 02/01/2017 07:17 PM

Denver International Airport (DIA) began enforcing a rule on Sunday

that requires anyone interested in demonstrating to submit an

application seven days in advance. The regulation was challenged by

protesters, including one who recorded a video criticizing Denver

Police Commander Tony Lopez for violating his First Amendment

rights.

“Put all the signs away that have anything to do with first amendment

expression, political message,” Lopez told demonstrators. “Based on

legal advice we are getting at this time from the city attorney, what’s

being displayed is a violation of airport rules and regulations.”

“I cannot carry the Constitution without a permit?” a protester asks.

“Correct, according to airport rules and regulations,” Lopez responds.

After the video spread on social media, Heath Montgomery, a

spokesperson for DIA, told a local reporter that the regulation is

intended to protect airport patrons’ safety. “We have to ensure that

people who use this airport are safe and able to go about their

business uninterrupted and that’s going to remain our focus,” he said.

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that airports are not traditional

public forums, so they can regulate people in ways that may seem to

violate their First Amendment rights.

CREDIT: Darren O’Connor

This embeddedcontent is from a sitethat does not complywith the Do Not Track

(DNT) setting now


2 of 7 02/01/2017 07:17 PM

But the movement toward limiting protesters’ free speech rights is not

confined to the terminals of DIA. In anticipation of an active protest

movement during Trump’s administration, multiple Republican-

controlled states are currently pushing for legislation that would

discourage and even criminalize nonviolent, public demonstrations.

In Minnesota, a bill passed a Republican-controlled committee last

week that would allow cities to sue protesters in order to collect

money to pay police forces required at the demonstration. Lawmakers

drafted the legislation in response to massive Black Lives Matter

protests that erupted in the state after a police officer shot and killed

Philando Castile.

Chip Gibbons, the policy and legislative council for the Bill of Rights

Defense Committee, wrote on his group’s website that he believes this

proposed law violates the First Amendment.

“It is most likely unconstitutional, and if passed will have a chilling

effect on speech as individuals will worry if they can be sued by the

government for exercising their constitutional rights,” he wrote.

While they attempt to open up the laws to sue protesters, Minnesota

Republicans are also considering a bill that would increase the

potential penalty for nonviolent demonstrations. Introduced in early

January and named the “Minnesota Public Safety Personnel

Protection Act,” the legislation would mandate a penalty of no less

than 12 months in prison and a fine of up to $10,000 to any protester

that obstructs police or other public employees.

And in Michigan, Republican lawmakers are attacking both unions

and protesters by pushing legislation that would increase fines against

picketers to $1,000 per person per day of a picket and $10,000 per

day for an organization or union involved in the picket. The bill

passed the state House of Representatives in December, but was set

aside by the Senate.


3 of 7 02/01/2017 07:17 PM

Taking a different tactic, four other states are considering anti-protest

laws that would target demonstrators who protest on the streets,

according to The Intercept. The bills have all been introduced in the

last few months as responses to high-profile protests by Black Lives

Matter activists and opponents of the Dakota Access Pipeline that shut

down highways.

The Intercept summarized the bills that Republican lawmakers have

proposed in North Dakota, Minnesota, Washington, and Iowa:

In North Dakota, for instance, Republicans introduced a bill last week

that would allow motorists to run over and kill any protester obstructing

a highway as long as a driver does so accidentally. In Minnesota, a bill

introduced by Republicans last week seeks to dramatically stiffen fines for

freeway protests and would allow prosecutors to seek a full year of jail

time for protesters blocking a highway. Republicans in Washington state

have proposed a plan to reclassify as a felony civil disobedience protests

that are deemed “economic terrorism” … And in Iowa a Republican

lawmaker has pledged to introduce legislation to crack down on highway

protests.

Though Democrats in state legislatures may be able to block at least

Law enforcement form a line across Interstate 94 on Saturday, July 9, 2016, in St. Paul, Minn., in response toprotesters who blocked the highway in response to the death of Philando Castile. CREDIT: AP Photo/Joe

Danborn


4 of 7 02/01/2017 07:17 PM

some of these bills, the flood of legislative proposals stemming from

anti-protester sentiment is worrisome for civil liberties advocates. Lee

Rowland, a senior staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union,

told ThinkProgress she finds it “troubling” that states would prioritize

anti-free speech legislation at the beginning of their legislative

sessions.

“This is a marked uptick in bills that would criminalize or penalize

protected speech and protest, and every person should be alarmed at

that trend,” she said, calling the bills unconstitutional. “We should

also be alarmed by the attitude they betray, which is that when

Americans get out into the streets and make their voices heard—

recently, in record numbers—their elected representatives’ response

is not to listen to those concerns but to attempt to silence and

criminalize them.”

“That goes against the very fabric of our constitutional democracy, and

legislators introducing these bills should be ashamed,” she added. “To

try to silence those who are speaking up right now is a betrayal of

American values.”

This piece has been updated to include comment from the ACLU.


5 of 7 02/01/2017 07:17 PM


6 of 7 02/01/2017 07:17 PM


7 of 7 02/01/2017 07:17 PM

republicans push anti-protest laws · 2017-02-02 · republicans push anti-protest laws ... matter...

Documents