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An area has been set aside at the democratic national convention in boston for those that wish to offer a differing opinion.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp.../bx11407212244
if I were a conservative there to voice an opinion I would definitely want to be sitting there.
free speech in its finest hour!
How many miles away from the action is that miniature camp X-Ray? :)
Hey! This could be the next Reality TV venue. You know that some Democrats will be there to egg on the Conservatives. This could be bigger that the WWF! :D
This really does not suprise me though! Caging up the Republicans is really just a himiliation factor in my opinion. I think this is taking "Protecting Freedom of Speech." a bit to far though. I dokn't disagree with remote free speech zones.....too much, but I think the cage is a bit over the top.
Of a relative point - This article is form the New York Daily News. http://www.nydailynews.com/front/bre...p-183996c.html
So where is the ACLU now that the Republicans Protestors are not only being forced to protest at a remote location but are penned up too boot. All I can find on the ACLU website is a "seeking of changes" to the way a permit to protest is acquired during the time period of the Democratic convention.Quote:
Donna Lieberman, NYCLU executive director, said the ruling will have a “significant impact” on demonstrations at the Republican convention.
She said the ruling will likely end a 6-year-old police practice that caused demonstrators to be bottled up in block-long pens surrounded by metal barricades, unable to freely leave and return when a demonstrator needs a restroom or food.
“I see an end to the four-sided pens,” she said. “Police have to allow for free access to and from any barricaded areas. We’re confident that the four sided pens that have made it so difficult for people to participate in demonstrations will be a thing of the past.”
Same Article:
Oh! I found the ACLU after all. How Ironic!Quote:
In a ruling certain to affect protests at the Republican National Convention, a judge has ordered city police to end bag searches of demonstrators and to allow protesters to move more easily in demonstration areas.
U.S. District Judge Robert W. Sweet said in a ruling made public Monday that police will not be allowed to search the bags of demonstrators unless they can show a specific threat to public safety and explain how blanket searches can reduce the threat......
The ruling came after the New York Civil Liberties Union argued on behalf of several people who complained about police actions during a February 2003 anti-war protest prior to the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
Update:
Full story: http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news...24/detail.htmlQuote:
The protesters then brought their concerns to the First U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. On Friday, a three-judge panel refused their bid for a preliminary injunction, but asked that briefs be filed by Monday morning.
Thanks Skittish. I'll be interested to see what is posted to the ACLU web site. I am always Glad to see the ACLU fight for something I deem worth while. A refreshing change.
Update II: 07/27/04
Quote:
from Wired News
Activists say the zone resembles the U.S. prison camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and the notorious Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.
The zone, surrounded by two layers of chain link fences mounted on Jersey barriers, draped with black mesh and topped with razor wire, violates the protesters' free-speech rights, said a legal observer for the Boston chapter of the National Lawyers Guild.
"You can't have free speech inside a prison," said the observer, Tony Naro, a recent college graduate who plans to start law school this fall.