The right to protest

There is a long and honored tradition of non-violent civil disobedience in this country. Martin Luther King, Jr. led the civil rights movement in this tradition, and before that Alice Paul and others led the first wave of feminism in the U.S. for women’s suffrage.

NVCD is a Constitutionally protected way to protest the actions of your government. Generally it’s a planned activity. Everyone, including the police, knows it’s going to happen. When I first moved to DC there was an understanding between activists and the Park Police. We would break the law by doing something like protesting in front of the White House, or inside the Capital, without a permit. The police would give you three warnings to leave, and then they would arrest you. You went to Anacostia, where your attorney was waiting for you, you were processed, paid your fine and you were usually on your way within about two hours or so.

Since 9/11 all that has changed. The Park Police will now give you one warning, and will often then begin arresting people within a few minutes. There have even been cases where the police actually surrounded protesters, making it impossible for them to leave, and then arresting them.

Peaceful protest in Washington, DC, almost doesn’t exist any longer.

When you do get a permit, you are often not given one for a well traveled public street with maximum visibility. The last protest I attended where a permit was pulled the protesters were relegated to a parking lot behind one of the Senate office buildings.

I think this is an outrage.

It’s similar to what is happening around the country when the president travels and the Secret Service sets up "free speech zones". Protesters are told they must stage their demonstration blocks away from where the president is scheduled to speak – rendering the protest for all intent and purpose meaningless.

I think Americans would be upset if they truly understood how their right to assemble and to protest is being compromised – even in their nation’s capitol.

Benjamin Franklin once said: "Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both." They are words to live by today.