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If this legislation is passed, two people walking a dog would legally comprise an "assembly," and they would risk arrest if they:
• "occupy any public area" — street, sidewalk, park, etc. — without a permit. This is, of course, a stab at the heart of the First Amendment. It ends the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
• "substantially" prevent the "usual flow of pedestrian or vehicular traffic." People do tend to take up physical space, so it's impossible for any crowd not to impede the usual flow of traffic. The proposal effectively bans crowds, and makes everyone in any crowd (remember, that's two people and one dog — or 10,000 people) subject to arrest.
But wait, there's more! ...
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Miami considers nullifying First Amendment
by Helen & Harry Highwater, Unknown News
Sept. 28, 2003
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Free Trade Areas of the Americas (FTAA), the latest misleadingly-named group working for a globalized economy, will hold meetings in Miami on November 19, 20, and 21.
Of course, there will be protests. And if you believe in the right to protest, you would hope the protests will be peaceful, and the city's police would respect this right to peaceful protest.
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It doesn't matter half an iota whether you (or we) agree or disagree with protesters. What matters is that they must have the right to protest, or all is lost.
Without the right to protest, America is over.
And there will be no right to protest in Miami if this legislation passes.
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Instead, the city of Miami is considering a proposal that would effectively squelch the expected protests. This legislation would outlaw the possession of weapons at protests — and also outlaw all sorts of things that have nothing to do with public safety, and everything to do with banning the First Amendment right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
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 Police do not always respect protesters' rights.
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The legislation is written to specifically expire one week after the FTAA meetings end — a provision which should eliminate any illusion that it's designed for any purpose other than silencing dissent.
City Commissioners have delayed their vote on the proposal, a tactic apparently designed to make it more difficult for protesters to challenge this proposal. Court cases take a great deal of time and effort. Since a law can't be legally challenged until it is a law, every day's delay in enacting it leaves less time before the FTAA meetings begin, and makes it that much more difficult to challenge the law before the protests and inevitable arrests.
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Another scary aspect about all this is the very secrecy with which it's happening. We've spent hours trying to obtain a copy, or even a summary of this legislation. We've found no coverage in any Miami area media that explains or even hints at what's in this piece of legislation (see our earlier article for more background) — and what's in it is alarming.
The proposal would allow police to arrest anyone peaceably assembling in "crowds" as small as three people (and animals!).
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 In Seattle, clouds of police pepperspray drifted across entire neighborhoods.
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Yes, you read that right: If this legislation is passed, two people walking a dog would legally comprise an "assembly," and they would risk arrest if they:
• "occupy any public area" — street, sidewalk, park, etc. — without a permit. This is, of course, a stab at the heart of the First Amendment. It ends the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
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• "substantially" prevent the "usual flow of pedestrian or vehicular traffic." People do tend to take up physical space, so it's impossible for any crowd not to impede the usual flow of pedestrian or vehicular traffic. The proposal effectively bans crowds, and makes everyone in any crowd (remember, that's two people and one dog — or 10,000 people) subject to arrest.
But wait, there's more! People are also subject to arrest if they:
• have a sign or poster made of anything but cloth, paper, or cardboard.
• have a sign or poster made of these 'approved' materials, but it's "greater than one-quarter inch in thickness."
• have a sign or poster with a wooden handle. The maximum size for "legal" wood is one-quarter inch by two inches, not exceeding "three-quarters inch in its thickest dimension," which bans every protest sign we've ever carried.
And if you're thinking you'd construct your sign's handle out of some other material, you're also subject to arrest if you:
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 In Oakland, police fired rubber bullets at peaceful protesters. This is what rubber bullets do.
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• have a sign or poster with a handle made of "any length of metal, plastic, or other similar hard of [they mean 'or'] stiff material. The only exception is that hollow plastic may be used as a sign handle, provided it's "less than three-quarter (3/4") inch in its thickest dimension."
And we're not finished yet. You can also be arrested if you:
• have a water balloon.
• have a glass bottle, jar, or container of any kind. 'Sorry, ma'am, we're confiscating your insulin as evidence, and you're under arrest.'
• have (on your person, or in a forgotten box in the trunk of your car) any form of weapon — whether it's a gun, an air gun, a paint gun, a "supersoaker" squirt gun, or a baseball bat. Even a "stick" or "pole" of any kind could land you in jail.
• have a gas mask, any kind of body shield, or "sleeping dragon" (the device protesters sometimes use to lock their arms or hands together, making if more difficult for cops to arrest them).
You could argue that provisions banning gas masks, body shields, or sleeping dragons make sense — if cops respected the right to protest, and only arrested people who present a true danger or committed a genuine crime. But people who've actually attended, participated in, or seen large protests know better.
At large rallies, the mood of police commanders is the only thing that determines whether police will respect protesters' rights — and often, police commanders are not in a First Amendment frame of mind.
We've seen it with our own eyes, several times: We've seen cops flood an entire city block with tear gas, fire rubber bullets into crowds, and arrest groups of people — not to stop troublemakers, but to break up peaceful protests. Illegalizing gas masks, body shields, and sleeping dragons simply means protesters will be required by law to endure this illegal police action, and prevented by law from doing anything to defend themselves and their alleged rights.
These regulations were written at the express request of Miami Police Chief John Timoney. Timoney was Philadelphia's Police Commissioner in 2000, where he oversaw mass police raids and illegal arrests of hundreds of protesters during the 2000 Republican Convention. If this legislation passes, November's protests in the City of Miami will be probably unfold in a similar manner.
Whenever we publish an article like this, we invariably hear from people who say the protesters are un-American, and deserve whatever punishment police can inflict. Of course, if you call yourself a patriot and tell yourself you give a damn about freedom and other alleged American principles, it doesn't matter half an iota whether you (or we) agree or disagree with protesters. What matters is that they must have the right to protest, or all is lost.
Without the right to protest, America is over.
And there will be no right to protest in Miami if this legislation passes.
Or if you prefer to think positive, there will be an absolutely unfettered right to protest — for people who somehow take up no physical space, and for people who peaceably assemble only in crowds of two or fewer.Kudos to Public Citizen, for getting their hands on the Miami legislation and putting it on-line. And to Hal Cyon, an Unknown News reader and contributor who found it and let us know.
© 2003, by the authors.
Comments? newsuneed@yahoo.com
Images ©:
Asheville Global Report
Associated Press
BBC News
Peter Magubane
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