Tennessee attorney general: Bill banning union picketing is unconstitutional

[G_j]

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/03/20/1286278/-Tennessee-attorney-general-Bill-banning-union-picketing-is-unconstitutional?detail=email

Thu Mar 20, 2014 at 02:10 PM PDT.

Tennessee attorney general: Bill banning union picketing is unconstitutional

by Laura Clawson for Daily Kos Labor

A Republican bill to criminalize union picketing has been moving through the Tennessee state House, with a committee vote coming up soon. But it may be running into a snag: Tennessee Attorney General Robert Cooper says the bill violates the First Amendment.

“HB1688 presents a content-based restriction upon speech. It would criminalize ‘any form of mass picketing activity in the context of a strike, lockout, or other labor dispute’,” the opinion says.

It notes the bill "includes labor-dispute-specific proscriptions on conduct that do not apply in non-labor contexts. Furthermore, the injunction provision of HB1688… would establish a different standard for business and private-property owners who are the targets of labor-related mass picketing.”

The question, of course, is whether likely unconstitutionality is enough of a reason for Tennessee Republicans to back off of limiting speech because they don't like who's speaking or what they're saying. An early response from state Rep. Jeremy Durham, the bill's sponsor, suggests he's not backing down without a fight.

[Lucky Luciano]

1. Wow, sounds impressively illegal - but they know who is in the Supreme Court I guess. nt

[Thinkingabout]

2. Would it be possible the same guy who wrote this bill would vote against sensible

Arms bill because of the Second Amendment but wants a bill which violates the First Amendment. Another bill which will prove to be unconstitutional. It looks like more controls coming out of the GOP and they wonder why people don't like them.

[Populist_Prole]

3. CRIMINALIZE!!?? Picketing!!??

This is full-on fascist thugs pulling a shock-doctrine thing.

[jsr]

4. Full-throttle fascism at work

It's just a goddamn piece of paper.

[EC]

5. Republicans have passed a whole slew of

unconstitutional laws in the last 4-5 years. That's why all the laws they pass that are ALEC written or even that the idiots themselves write end up in courts.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

6. It seems like a no-brainer. Pun intended.

[Trust Buster]

7. A rapid race to the bottom

I fully understand why a wealthy individual would vote Republican. I fully understand why a religious centered middle class individual focused on outdated social mores would vote Republican. But, I will never understand how a middle class individual without a significant religious/social slant would EVER vote Republican. They clearly do not represent that individual's interest and do not shy away from signaling their intentions.

[geretogo]

8. Mussolini's spirit

Mussolini's spirit is alive and running the show here in the disUnited States of Corporateocracy .

[Kingofalldems]

9. Pretty sure their boy Pinochet put this into practice.

[James48]

10. Michigan has an ALEC bill that does the same

That passed the Michigan State House in 2013.

House Bill 4643

See

http://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/2013-2014/billanalysis/house/pdf/2013-HLA-4643-67A8606D.PDF

[TNNurse]

11. Well, duh.

Damn, they are as ignorant as they are mean and bigoted. I guess those really are synonyms.

Can we agree that trying to limit the rights of other Americans is a form of treason??

[benld74]

12. GOP always uses the zoo monkees throwing **** at everything method

of governing.

[Not Sure]

13. J.F.C.

These people really are that goddamn stupid.

[Redfairen]

14. Do unions strike in the South anymore?

Tennesse doesn't even need to pass this bill to avoid pickets. The few unions remaining in the South do nothing of the sort. Could someone please name the last major walkout to happen in a Southern state? I remember seeing one way back in 90's. Do Southern locals even do that anymore?

[bkanderson76]

15. A Labor Dispute is not of the government's business.