Republicans All Over the Country Pushing Anti-Protest Bills to Silence Peaceful Protest

[red dog 1]

Mother Jones
March 6, 2017

The Proposals Could Criminalize the Non-Violent Demonstrations That Have Grown Since Trump Was Elected



As citizens unhappy with the Trump administration look to build on the momentum of the historic Women's March with additional public expressions of outrage, Republicans across the country are quietly introducing legislation aimed at limiting and even criminalizing peaceful demonstrations.

According to a recent count from the American Civil Liberties Union, at least 17 states have proposed such anti-protest bills, many of which include language ostensibly aimed at improving measures such as public safety.

But upon closer analysis, these bills all appear to share the intended goal of suppressing First Amendment rights by making peaceful dissent a crime with the threat of jail time and hefty fines.

More + map:
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/03/republicans-anti-protest-bills-map

[niyad]

1. does this surprise any of us?

[pangaia]

2. Look, we are 1 false flag or REAL attack away from an authoritarian military state.!!!

The toilet paper roll is running out and out flight leaves in 15 minutes !!!

[niyad]

3. I am only surprised it has not happened yet.

[pangaia]

5. me too....THAT is what really has me worried...

Time is wasting..fast......

[workinclasszero]

11. Same here

Trump, Bannon and some other republicans are going to cook up a reichstag fire incident soon I bet, then attempt to overthrow the Constitution and bill of rights.

How the country and the military respond to this fascist takeover event will spell life or death for American freedom and democracy.

[yeoman6987]

4. No it doesn't but hopefully democratic voters will get our 1,000 seats back by

using this as a way to get voters to the polls. Many other crap bills help as well.

[pangaia]

7. As important as that is, we don't have the luxury of waiting that long..

[yeoman6987]

8. No argument from me. These repugs are evil to the core and don't let up

[pangaia]

9. Putin wants the Balkans, Poland, Romania, Hungary, etc...

He is not going to wait for this idiot in the WH to fuck it up for him.

[Kingofalldems]

12. Another way of reading yeoman6987's post---he was bragging.

And the message was there is nothing Democrats can do right now.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=8755802

[RandiFan1290]

16. Thanks

It's so frigging obvious. Would be helpful if more DUers figured it out.

[N77VG]

6. Also a slew of state bills allowing discrimination against...pretty much anyone

in the name of 'religious freedom'.

[ProudLib72]

10. Then the protests will be "violent"

They aren't going to stop protests. This just criminalizes them and makes the people who are exercising their rights into criminals.

[lunatica]

13. Unconstitutional, so therefore this will be blocked by the Judiciary too.

[ffr]

14. +1

Pointless almost to even give it any consideration. It's a stupid argument.

[MadLinguist]

15. Got to be. But doesn't that require one-by-one litigation?

There are certainly plenty willing to bring the cases. Would they have to be arrested first to contest the legality of the bill? Or could it be contested as soon as the state legislature signed the bill? I bet the bills have language assigning wide discretion to individual police officers. I would really like to have a look at the language of one of those bills. Dicey dancing around first amendment rights...

[lunatica]

19. I think none of these have been signed into law

The state legislators are working on it. I don't think any of it will even make it into bill, much less become law.

Look at response #18 just below this one.

[Mendocino]

17. JFK

"Those who make peaceful protest impossible make violent revolution inevitable."

[red dog 1]

21. + 1

Very appropriate JFK quote!

[Hortensis]

18. Yes. Many media around the nation publishing horror stories.

The ACLU is organizing grassroots "mass resistance" for anyone who is interested. This mass resistance, of course, will make itself felt when members of Indivisible and other groups are arrested and fined, and perhaps even have their property seized, for speaking out.

" ... Trump’s use of executive power has prompted the protest and defiance of millions, echoing the voices of many who know that our basic American values are being tested by our president.

The ACLU will continue to defend our basic freedoms and hold this administration accountable for every unlawful or unconstitutional measure they propose. We will use the courts as one avenue to aggressively advance our agenda, but we cannot do it alone.

That is why the ACLU is launching a major new grassroots mobilization platform, PeoplePower.org, in response to the growing number of people who believe that Trump’s actions cannot go unchallenged.

We’ve hired a group of digital organizers who have worked with activist groups, the White House (presumably now Obama's current organization!), and Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign to help build and launch PeoplePower.org. With this platform, we hope to help organize the mass resistance to President Trump’s bankrupt policies. With a nationwide presence through our 50-plus state affiliates, the ACLU is well positioned to take on the incredible responsibility of grassroots organizing coast to coast. ...

On March 11, the ACLU will hold a “Resistance Training” town hall in Miami, Florida. An email ask went out today to the organization’s over 2.5 million members to organize thousands of grassroots events in communities across the country to watch the ACLU town hall. Full details on the training are forthcoming.

PeoplePower.org will use digital tools to communicate with and help train volunteers to resist President Trump’s unlawful policies across the country. The ACLU will promote ideas for action to defend sanctuary cities, resist deportation raids, oppose the Muslim Ban, maintain Planned Parenthood funding, and support other priorities. But the program will also seek to amplify organic, bottom-up grassroots actions. PeoplePower.org will be a one-stop hub for everyone looking to influence the national debate.

https://go.peoplepower.org/signup/attend-march-11?source=aclu-homepage
Resistance training March 11.

[MadLinguist]

20. thank you! very valuable information

for protest planning.