Arkansas Town Makes Peaceful Assembly Illegal

Political cronyism in American politics is nothing new. It has been a problem since our country's birth, and while there have been steps taken to limit the practice over the years, it still persists in one form or another.

This is the case in the Arkansas town of Gould, where town councilmen were fed up with one activist group meeting with the Mayor, and having supposedly massive influence over him. So, in an effort to erase this influence, the council decided to pass a bill that banned the group from talking to the mayor. Unfortunately, the bill was so broad, it can only be seen as an all-out attack on the Mayor's freedom of assembly. The law went further than just banning this one group -- it bans "any groups from forming if members discuss the town without council approval." Essentially, thanks to this new law, you can't even meet with a group of your friends in your house to discuss the goings on in the town without government permission to do so, which is a clear violation of one's First Amendment right of peaceful assembly for whatever reason.

This law doesn't just apply to people within the town limits, either; if you're caught discussing town matters at all, regardless of location, you can be prosecuted for it.

Rebel of the Week: Adam Kokesh

Arrested for dancing at the Jefferson Memorial? It would be funny if it wasn't true.

On Saturday, in defiance of an unconstitutional ban on dancing at public monuments, a silent flash mob erupted at the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, DC. The move was to protest the decision by US District Judge John D. Bates to ban dancing at Washington's monuments, stating that it wasn't how Jefferson should be memorialized. In response to the flash mob, Park Police arrested the dance troupe, led by political activist Adam Kokesh, host of the Adam vs. The Man and an Iraq War vet, for "demonstrating without a permit."  Those arrested were held for five hours. While this was bad enough, a viral video was released showing some of the protestors being violently thrown to the ground by the Park Rangers, in what can only be described as an obvious display of police brutality.

Dancing, even if you are the worst dancer known to man, is a free act of expression, which I'm pretty sure is protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution. Banning it as a "demonstration" is bad enough, but the Gestapo-like reactions of the Park Rangers was beyond unnecessary. Thankfully, the Park Rangers' Office of Personal Responsibility is opening an investigation into whether or not the police were too aggressive in their handling of the situation.

As for Mr. Kokesh, he is planning to return to the Memorial on Saturday, June 4th, with what he hopes is a larger group of people, in defiance of the ban.

Pennsylvania ends tickets for cursing at a police officer

According to Maryclaire Dale of the Associated Press,

Firing off a few four-letter words can't be charged as a crime anymore in Pennsylvania — at least when state police are involved.

State police have agreed to stop citing the public for cursing as part of a settlement Tuesday of a federal free-speech lawsuit.

The American Civil Liberties Union represents Pennsylvanians who have been ticketed for cursing at an overflowing toilet, a swerving motorcyclist and a parking ticket issuer.  The citations can lead to hundreds of dollars in fines and legal costs, not to mention the occasional jail stint.

"Using profanity toward someone, whether an officer or not, is just not one of those things that you can put someone in jail for," ACLU lawyer Mary Catherine Roper said Tuesday. "It may not be very smart, but you have a constitutional right to do that."

The First Amendment and Private Property

A story from OneNewsNow recently reported that the Pacific Justice Institute is suing a California shopping mall for what it believes to be a violation of constitutional freedoms. The alledged violation is that a mall policy bans the following:

... anyone [from] ever sharing their faith or political views with anyone else in the shopping mall at any time if they did not know that person prior to entering the shopping mall.

The story also reported that the mall had rules banning individuals from "wearing any clothing that displays religious or political messages."

The problem with this argument is that the First Amendment, coupled with the Fourteenth Amendment applying much of the Bill of Rights to the states, prohibits the federal and state governments from abridging political speech or prohibiting religious freedom. It says nothing of private individuals or mall owners who have their own ground rules for individuals wishing to enter their property.