Why I sing at the Wisconsin Capitol without a permit

[Scuba]

No, not me (yet), but the author of this piece...


http://www.isthmus.com/daily/article.php?article=40758

I'm a small business owner, not a public employee. I have never been in a union. So why do I still sing protest songs with the Solidarity Sing Along at the Capitol, even after being arrested for doing so? If a permit is readily attainable, isn't it just stubborn not to apply for one? There are, in fact, good reasons why I still sing without a permit.

Rights and permits are incompatible. The word "permit" implies permission. If you "permit" your neighbors to fish on your land, by definition you are choosing to allow them. If Native Americans have treaty rights to fish on your land it makes no sense to say you "permit" them. If they asked for your permission, they'd be admitting that they need it and therefore that they don't have a right to fish except at your discretion.

By the same token, if I applied for a permit to protest in the Capitol, I'd be admitting that a permit can be required. This means granting the state the power to decide when and if demonstrations critical of its own policies will be allowed. Permits are a needless obstacle to the exercise of our rights. As the officer who arrested me admitted, whoever takes out a permit is responsible -- and financially liable -- for everyone else's conduct. But how can anyone be responsible for the conduct of every stranger who happens to visit the Capitol during the noon hour?
...

To enforce the Constitution, I have to violate unconstitutional laws. One quirk of our legal system is that no citizen has standing in court to challenge the constitutionality of a law unless he or she is accused of breaking that law. I can't simply write a letter to the court asking them to overturn a rotten law. Only by submitting to arrest do I get my day in court. In a sense, I'm performing a law enforcement function. The Capitol Police and I are each enforcing a law and thereby breaking another. The cops enforce an ordinance and violate the Constitution; someone has to violate an ordinance to uphold the Constitution.

[Downwinder]

1. When will there be a Walker version of "Guv--The Musical?"

It ran in Arizona and made money for over 20 months.

Edit to add:

Maybe someone can write a satirical opera and get the Madison Opera to perform it. Get a permit and do it in the rotunda.

[roody]

2. Knr

[Lifelong Protester]

3. I really think we need another rally

like March of 2011. A lot of non-violent singing.