Protesting in DC this weekend? Know your rights!

[editor's note, by rioduran] This is about the DC law applying to DC Metro police action during protests in DC. If you read the post and the links, you will notice that this is not a Federal law nor am I trying to say that it is. DC Metro police are in charge of keeping the peace during protests in DC. As far as Fed conduct during protests on Fed property (which I believe mainly would be buildings or certain parts of monument grounds, etc., anybody know?) that is a different matter. But what most people don't realize is that anything that goes on in DC politically, including Inauguration, requires quite a bit of coordination and planning and cleanup from DC Metro authorities. The Feds like to hold their parties and stick the city of DC with the bill.

More on the flip side...

After the World Bank Protest debacle in 2002, the DC police were rightly sued and reprimanded for myriad violations of First Amendment rights of protestors. Since then, DC has enacted new legislation which ensures our rights and forces the police to act less like the Gestapo and allow protests to continue without herding protestors like cattle and making mass arrests. The bill is called the "First Amendment Rights and Police Practices Act of 2005" and became law on April 13, 2005, without the mayor's signature.

Link to full text of bill

The National Capitol Area ACLU writes this about the new law:

The new law provides additional protections for the exercise of peaceful free speech in the District of Columbia. It declares that people have a right to demonstrate "near the object of their protest so they may be seen and heard," and makes clear that people do not need police permission to exercise their constitutional right to freedom of speech. The law prohibits the police from arresting an entire assembly when only a few people are breaking the law, requires police to display visible identification when handling demonstrations, restricts the use of police lines to entrap demonstrators who have not broken any law, and prohibits the use of tear gas and pepper spray on peaceful protesters.

Here's some text of the new law:

To establish a policy for the District of Columbia regarding First Amendment assemblies; to require the Metropolitan Police Department ("MPD") to recognize and implement District policies regarding First Amendment assemblies, to require the Mayor to issue regulations governing the issuance of approved plans for First Amendment assemblies, to prohibit the use of a police line to encircle participants in a First Amendment assembly unless MPD has probable cause to arrest, and has decided to arrest, the participants, to
require MPD to adopt a method of identifying officers during First Amendment assemblies that provides for more visible identification, to require that MPD officers document, either in writing or electronically, all arrests made during First Amendment assemblies, to establish a policy regarding the use of restraints while processing persons arrested during a First Amendment assembly, to require MPD to promptly process persons arrested in connection with a First Amendment assembly, to require MPD to provide persons arrested in connection with a First Amendment assembly with a written notice identifying their release options, to require the Chief of Police to issue rules regarding the issuance of police passes for members of the media, and to require appropriate training for MPD personnel who handle First Amendment assemblies;....

Basically, we have to be treated like human beings and Americans exercising our Freedom of Speech. They can't shut down a protest just because we don't have a permit, either. That's good news for the counter-demonstrators, I'm sure. We can also thank this new law for letting us protest around the White House and not be sent to some remote corner of the Capitol so we don't disturb Bush's beautiful mind and Scotty's house of cards.

I'm trying to write up a breakdown of the finer points of the new law but my 3-week migraine is affecting my thought process now so maybe I can put that up later. Please recommend so people headed to DC this weekend will know what to expect and how they are expected to act (civil, basically).

•  Since it's DC, not Federal law...

  it does not apply to Federal Law Enforcement  when you're on their turf.

  by ben masel on Tue Sep 20, 2005 at 12:11:20 AM PDT

  •  so?

    What is "their turf"? I thought it was DC metro police that are used to break up protests in the city...

    by deacon on Tue Sep 20, 2005 at 04:50:14 AM PDT

    •  Breakdown

      On National Capitol Mall, and Laffayette park, it's US Park Police, historically much nastier than Metro.

      The Capitol and Supreme Court have their own departments. Secret Service uniformed division does the Treasury grounds and embassies.

      They're all cross-deputized with Metro, but the "home" department normally calls the shots in each respective location.

      by ben masel on Tue Sep 20, 2005 at 05:09:19 AM PDT

      •  so then

        Most of the marchers on the streets would be subject to DC Metro police, correct?

        On the mall, you're at the mercy of the Park Police (Dept. of the Interior).

        What happened in 2002 was incidents of blocking off streets and blocking entire groups of people, then arresting 400 en masse without warning to disperse and without allowing those who wished to leave to actually leave.

        The incident happened at Patterson Park, a federal park at 15th street and Pennsylvania Avenue.

        by rioduran on Tue Sep 20, 2005 at 05:23:24 AM PDT

        •  sorry

          Pershing Park, not Patterson Park.

          WaPo article on how 400 arrests were improper

          by rioduran on Tue Sep 20, 2005 at 05:27:02 AM PDT

          •  Most peculiar

            The linked article indicates the Park Police Captain on the scene for those arrests disagreed with the decision by Metro to conduct the illegal mass arrest, but Metro went ahead anyway, even tho it was on land where the Park Police should have been the lead agency.

            I can only speculate that some kind of command level agreement had been reached beforehand giving Metro a "lead agency" role for the entire event.

            by ben masel on Tue Sep 20, 2005 at 06:01:39 AM PDT

  •  I didn't say it was federal law

    I'm saying this is how the DC Metro police are supposed to act during protests from now on.

    by rioduran on Tue Sep 20, 2005 at 05:01:50 AM PDT

•  reco'd anyway

  Because I appreciate your effort anyway.

  by lizah on Tue Sep 20, 2005 at 03:46:28 AM PDT

•  Map

  pdf from National Park Service

  The Park Police jurisdiction is the green space, Independence Ave to constitution Ave, plus the Ellipse and Lafayette Park, south and north, respectively, of the White House.

  by ben masel on Tue Sep 20, 2005 at 05:53:36 AM PDT