Protestors' Rights

aka Right To Protest

03/08/2012

H.R. 347

How Big a Deal is H.R. 347, That “Criminalizing Protest” Bill?

By Gabe Rottman, Legislative Counsel, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 11:56am

Recent days have seen significant concern about an unassuming bill with an unassuming name: the "Federal Restricted Buildings and Grounds Improvement Act of 2011." The bill, H.R. 347, has been variously described as making the First Amendment illegal or criminalizing the Occupy protests.

The truth is more mundane, but the issues raised are still of major significance for the First Amendment.

11/12/2012

Protestors' Rights

International Organization Finds U.S. Violating the Rights of Protestors

By Allison Frankel, ACLU Human Rights Program at 2:55pm

The right to peacefully assemble, enshrined both in the U.S. Constitution and international human rights law, is an intrinsic element of the democratic fabric of the United States. Yet according to a report released Friday by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), an international organization of which the U.S. is a member, America is failing to uphold this fundamental right. The report is the first comprehensive OSCE report on violation of the right to freedom of peaceful assembly that covers the U.S.

05/14/2012

H.R. 347

Protesting NATO: What to Know About the Secret Service and H.R. 347

By Gabe Rottman, Legislative Counsel, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 12:58pm

Know before you go: what the newly passed H.R. 347 means for NATO protestors' rights.

08/07/2012

Occupy Movement

NYPD's Backwards Policy on Photography at Occupy Wall Street

By Naomi Gilens, ACLU Speech, Privacy and Technology Project at 12:32pm

Police are busting people for taking pictures while cops themselves improperly monitor protestors.

07/26/2012

Occupy Movement

Shining a Spotlight on the NYPD’s Low-Profile War on Protest

By Taylor Pendergrass, Senior Staff Attorney , NYCLU & Katherine Bromberg, Occupy Wall Street Coordinator, NYCLU at 10:30am

When the Occupy Wall Street movement ignited last fall, there was no shortage of disturbing press reports about NYPD misconduct toward the demonstrators. We've all read stories about the NYPD’s abuses—the eviction of hundreds of protesters from Zuccotti Park, the mass arrest of 700 people on the Brooklyn Bridge, the pepper-spraying of peaceful protesters.

07/19/2012

Freedom of Expression

Spying on Occupy?

By Linda Lye, Staff Attorney, ACLU of Northern California at 10:43am

Originally posted by the ACLU of Northern California

Why is the FBI spying on Occupy protesters? The ACLU-NC is determined to find out.

The ACLU of Northern California and San Francisco Bay Guardian today filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the FBI to find out whether and to what extent the feds have been spying on members of the Occupy movement. Although the right to protest goes to the heart of our democracy, and the FBI exists to keep us safe, the FBI has a perverse history of interpreting its mission to mean that it can spy on political activists, including Martin Luther King, Jr.

Last fall, the grassroots protest movement Occupy Wall Street - or simply "Occupy" - swept the nation. Originating in New York, prominent Occupy movements sprung up all over Northern California. But the law enforcement response was swift and brutal, as police showered protesters with exploding projectiles, batons, and pepper spray. (The ACLU-NC is currently suing UC Davis over its pepper spraying of peaceful student protesters, and is also partnering with the National Lawyers Guild in suing the City of Oakland over the violent crackdown on Occupy Oakland.)

10/20/2011

Protestors' Rights

Tell Everyone: Dissent Is Patriotic

By Ateqah Khaki at 1:16pm

The First Amendment guarantees what some might consider the most fundamental freedoms that define our nation.

The ongoing Occupy Wall Street protest is spreading from the streets of New York to cities and towns all across America, and the right to protest and dissent is a key part of this important national conversation.

As long as the ACLU has existed, we've been defending the rights of demonstrators to speak their minds and assemble together. Because we believe dissent is a form of patriotism. We believe all people have the right to free speech and the freedom to stand up for what they believe in.

11/04/2011

Protestors' Rights

Minnesota Law Enforcement Can't Make Up Rules As They Go Along

By Jana Kooren, ACLU of Minnesota at 5:04pm

Hennepin County in Minnesota created new restrictions just for OccupyMN that are not based on any existing laws or ordinances.

08/22/2012

Protestors' Rights

First Amendment Violations to Watch for at the RNC and DNC

By Jay Stanley, Senior Policy Analyst, ACLU Speech, Privacy and Technology Project at 12:11am

We know that photographers have been having problems all over the country with police harassment, and that demonstrators’ free speech rights have also been under assault. But with the Democratic and Republican political conventions coming up, we have all too much reason to expect that free speech rights will be swallowed up in the vortex of those events, which have become constitutional black holes in recent years.

04/26/2012

H.R. 347

Ready to Occupy? What You Need to Know about H.R. 347, the "Criminalizing Protest" Law

By Gabe Rottman, Legislative Counsel, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 11:35am

Occupy, NATO and the party conventions are all coming up this year. Know your rights under the newly signed protest law.

American Civil Liberties Union