Week 10: August 31, 2020
As injustice and violence continues to be perpetrated by law enforcement, despite months of protests, there has been almost no accountability. Not only has our government continued to, as a whole, ignore the deep-rooted reality of racism in this country and calls to systemic change, but they have taken deliberate steps to degrade the first amendment right to protest for those who they do not side with. With protests once again surging after the attempted murder of Jacob Blake by police officer Rusten Sheskey, images of violence against protesters have been widespread across social media platforms. Americans are faced with the fact that speaking out against the government for racial justice means putting their life at risk.
This violence is in direct conflict with a right written into the first amendment of the Constitution: congress shall not impede people's right to freedom of speech and to peacefully assemble. Despite peaceful protest and by extension freedom of speech being deeply embedded in the identity of our country as the land of the free, 133 anti-protest bills have been proposed in the last 4 years, 25 of which have been enacted.
Some of the bills increase the scope of unlawful activities (such as protesting with masks or near “critical infrastructure” sites) while others protect law enforcement from liability in case they harm protesters. And the issue goes deeper than simply restricting the right to protest, the president has made it clear through statements that while some protesters are “very good people” even though they have clear ties to white supremacist organizations, others demanding police and governmental accountability are “thugs” and “looking for trouble”. Additionally, the President has utilized DHS federal officers, against the will of local leaders, in order to suppress protests in Portland. These are not new tactics, and have been historically used by presidents of the past to attempt to quell and suppress movements they did not stand with. Therefore, it is imperative that we do not allow our rights to be violated and continue to make our voices heard.
The article below outlines some of the specific ways the Trump administration has enacted laws which impede on our first amendment rights to freedom of speech and assembly.
Article:
Prompts:
Is it constitutional for the government to regulate people’s right to assembly in any way and if so how?
Do the recent anti-protesting bills target all protests equally? Who is controlling which groups get regulated more harshly?
What are the possible impacts of limiting the rights of a group of protesters, and how could it affect the freedom of expression and assembly in the US as a whole (even if you disagree with the protesting group)
Know your rights: