The RNC and “free speech” hypocrisy

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As a member of Veterans for Peace, the Minnesota ACLU and other “peace and justice” organizations, I will not march with the RNC Welcoming Committee, Students for a Democratic Society, or any other entity that intends to “shut down” the RNC.(1,2) Much has been said about the right of marchers to protest the policies and actions of the Republican Party. However, virtually nothing has been said about the right of that party or any other party to hold its convention without unlawful disruption. The silence on that issue seriously undermines the constitutional credibility and impartiality of the “peace and justice” community. As the Supreme Court has noted, “(T)he right of peaceable assembly is, in the language of the Court, ‘cognate to those of free speech and free press and is equally fundamental…. [It] is one that cannot be denied without violating those fundamental principles of liberty and justice which lie at the base of all civil and political institutions–principles which the Fourteenth Amendment embodies in the general terms of its due process clause…. Continue Reading

RNC Security Watch: The manholes of St. Paul

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As St. Paul readies itself to host the Republican National Convention next month, security preparations are already under way. The precautionary measures taken by the Secret Service and local law enforcement agencies are vast and often occur right under our feet. Take for example the lowly manhole cover. As St. Continue Reading

Federal judge refuses to alter RNC marching orders

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Protesters planning a parade for the opening day of the Republican National Convention have been rebuffed by a federal court judge in their efforts to overturn the route authorized by the City of St. Paul. U.S. District Court Judge Joan Ericksen ruled, in an opinion issued this morning, that the city’s parade policies do not unconstitutionally curtail the free-speech rights of the Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War. (A PDF file of the decision is attached.)
“Compared to the access afforded marchers to the sites of the recent national conventions of the Democratic and Republican parties, the Coalition appears to have unprecedented access to the convention site,” Ericksen wrote in her opinion. Protesters initially sought a parade route that would have allowed them to proceed from the Capitol down John Ireland Boulevard, across Kellogg Boulevard and eventually encircle the Xcel Energy Center, where the convention will be taking place. Continue Reading