A Black Agenda Radio commentary by
Glen Ford
Got an urge to protest
the most obnoxious Republican presidential contenders, or demonstrate at
the NATO meeting, in Chicago? Consult your legal counsel, because the
rules have been changed, with no debate in either House of Congress.
Legislation awaiting the president’s signature packs prison terms for
protesting too closely to people guarded by the Secret Service or at a
National Security Event Zone.
Strangling
Civil Liberties, One Twist at a Time
A Black Agenda Radio commentary by
Glen Ford
“Anyone who is
caught ‘trespassing’ in the Zone, whether they knew it was restricted or
not, is liable for felony prosecution.”
There is a constituency
for the right to assemble and protest in this country, but it appears as
if that constituency has very little representation in the U.S.
Congress. The Senate unanimously passed a law that has significant
ramifications for the Occupy movement or anyone else that wants to
exercise their First Amendment rights. H.R. 347 is also known as the Trespass
Bill. Only three members of the House voted against it, all of them
Republicans, including presidential contender Ron Paul. None of the
major civil liberties organizations raised a fuss, either, but the
silence will surely come back to haunt us.
The bill makes it a
federal crime punishable by a year in prison for “trespassing” on places
where someone under protection of the Secret Service is also present,
and up to ten years if a weapon is involved, or someone is seriously
injured. The restrictions cover not just the president, but also
presidential candidates and foreign dignitaries and heads of state. The
new version of the law makes protesters subject to felony prosecution
even if they were unaware that people protected by the Secret Service
were in the area. Rather than demonstrators freely congregating to
protest the presence of their least favored presidential politicians, or
to loudly demand that visiting foreign leaders go back home, would-be
protesters would be best-advised by their lawyers to stay as far away as
possible or face a long stretch in prison. Surely, that stands the
right to peacefully assemble on its head.
“The only No
votes came from Tea Party Republicans.”
Even more ominously, the
new law allows the Department of Homeland Security to designate whole
areas as part of a so-called National Security Event Zone, off limits to
protest. The United National Anti-War Coalition and others that are
planning to demonstrate at the meeting of NATO nations, in Chicago, in
late May, will almost certainly be confronted with, not only Mayor Rahm
Emanuel’s aggressive protest containment policies, but a Homeland
Security declaration putting large areas under a federal protective
bubble, with even more serious criminal consequences. In the real, often
chaotic whirl of mass outdoor protest, with police pushing crowds from
place to place, and protesters trying to make themselves heard, large
numbers of demonstrators could find themselves in a federal no-go zone.
Under the old rules, the harshest penalties could be imposed only on
those who “willfully” crossed into a National Security Event Zone. The
new Trespass Bill omits the word “willfully,” so that anyone who is
caught “trespassing” in the Zone, whether they knew it was restricted or
not, is liable for felony prosecution. This brings to mind the mass
arrests of Occupy demonstrators on Brooklyn Bridge, last year. Many in
the crowd thought they were being escorted across the bridge by police,
and were not willfully trespassing. Under the federal bill, lack of
willfulness is no excuse.
What is more disturbing
than the potential Bill of Rights-eroding aspects of the legislation, is
the Congress’s cavalier attitude towards civil liberties. There was no
debate. The only No votes came from Tea Party Republicans. Democrats
behaved as if nothing important was happening, just as when President
Bill Clinton first came up with the idea National Security Event Zones –
where the public, by law, has nothing to say.
For Black Agenda Radio,
I’m Glen Ford. On the web, go to BlackAgendaReport.com.
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