To the tune of "Three Little Fishies," from the (non-holiday) Solidarity Sing Along songbook:
I went to the Capitol to join the Sing Along
State trooper searched my bag though I'd done nothing wrong
First Amendment, Fourth Amendment don't apply to you
I think I'll make a call to the ACLU!
There's a showdown looming between the Solidarity Sing Along and the Walker administration, and Friday and Monday (Dec. 16 & 19) will be the big days.
On December 1, Walker's Department of Administration announced a ridiculously restrictive new policy on planned protest events in the Capitol in Madison. The most immediate and obvious target of the new restrictions is the Solidarity Sing Along, which has been petitioning our government every weekday since March 11 -- creatively, peacefully, persistently and permit-free.
And it looks like someone made a call to the ACLU...
This from the ACLU of Wisconsin:
This week, the board of directors of the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin voted unanimously to authorize appropriate legal action to challenge the new Department of Administration’s policies that restrict First Amendment rights at the state Capitol.
Here's the ACLU of Wisconsin summary of what's constitutionally problematic with the policy:
Its flaws include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Permits are required of groups as small as four individuals.
- State bureaucrats have too much discretion to assign liability or limit permits to demonstrators.
- Further, state bureaucrats can hold groups organizing demonstrations liable for the actions of others beyond their control and groups will be held liable for the cost of police and custodial staffing decisions made by the state. Any advance police staffing decisions will be based on the content of demonstrators’ speech as they assess the potential for conflict with controversial or unpopular groups. This will be especially burdensome to poor or controversial groups and the state provides no waiver in such circumstances.
- The policy as written requires any individual seeking to distribute handbills or flyers to get a permit.
In concrete terms of what the new policy would do to the Sing Along, and any other protest group, if enforced:
- DOA ("THEY") would get to decide whether to grant a permit in the first place
- We'd have to pay $50 per cop per hour for the number of officers THEY deem necessary
- THEY get to decide whether THEY think we've caused any extra custodial work they can charge us for (remember the pants-on-fire claim that Wisconsin protesters did $7.5 million in damage to the Capitol marble in February?)
Adding insult to injury is a noise-level trigger for at what point an event held during business hours "shall be terminated" -- ninety decibels.
Here's a single, powerful-voiced Solidarity Sing Along regular testing the sound-level in the Rotunda with a hand-held decibel meter. Find out at the end of the video where her lone voice clocked in:
Well, the Solidarity Sing Along has no intention of applying for even one permit, let alone permit after permit after permit. The First Amendment to the US Constitution is our permit, along with Article 1 Section 4 of the Wisconsin Constitution, which states:
The right of the people peaceably to assemble, to consult for the common good, and to petition the government, or any department thereof, shall never be abridged.
Though the new policy has technically been in effect since Dec. 1, the DOA declared they'd make an education effort around getting everyone into compliance, up to Friday December 16. They held three meetings at which no useful information was provided. A sample exchange reported over at the blog Blue Cheddar:
Brian S. asked about the “hypothetical” on everybody’s mind:
“”Let’s say that whenever the implementation date is, that there are 150 singers in the rotunda, are you prepared to make 150 arrests if those people do not voluntarily comply?”
[Capitol Police Chief] Tubbs: I’m not going to respond to a hypothetical
Brian S.: It is not a hypothetical.
Tubbs: We will evaluate that situation. I am not going to give up the ability we have as a law enforcement agency to professionally deal with a situation that could be questionable.”
Anyone who can spontaneously show up to hypothetically sing with the Solidarity Sing Along will be most welcome! Friday Sing Alongs are held outside the Capitol at noon on the State Street side, where hypothetically no matter how many we are, there will be no more than 99 of us (seeing as how the permit trigger for outdoor events is 100 attendees).
The real showdown, however, is expected to be on Monday the 19th at noon in the Capitol Rotunda, where any gathering over 4 individuals would test the new rules. I intend to be there, and I'm hearing from a lot of non-regulars that they'll make a special effort at Rotunda-based spontaneity that day. I'm also hearing from surprising quarters about folks who will be (hypothetically) prepared for peaceful civil disobedience. There's a fine handout created by Grassroots Leadership College back in March called "prepared + peaceful: training for being in and around the Capitol" that has helpful advice for anyone pondering such, including:
To avoid unintended consequences, consider in advance: “If the police ask us to leave, will I leave when asked, or will I refuse respectfully?” This is your individual choice. Opinions differ on whether or not it would be useful for the movement for people to be arrested. If you are told to leave, you have three choices: Leave peacefully, cooperative civil disobedience, or passive civil disobedience.
The handout then goes on to offer tips on how to plan a strategy corresponding to each of those choices.
Given the possibility of arrests:
Volunteers from the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin will attend the Monday sing-along inside the Capitol as legal observers, particularly to monitor any arrests, says Wisconsin ACLU spokesperson Stacy Harbaugh.
A few final thoughts: There was a comment in an earlier diary to the effect that we should take care not to end up with our best activists in jail and out of commission at this crucial time. Here's why that's not a likely scenario -- recent free-speech related arrests at the Capitol have been misdemeanor fines at best, and have been subsequently tossed out when folks protested their citations in court. I'm not even convinced that they'll do any arresting in this showdown, given how many people would be involved and the fuel it would add to the recall fire. I'm prepared either way though.
And, I can't leave this diary without a quote from the Solidarity Sing Along Holiday Songbook:
Cowbells ring, are you listening,
In the Square, snow is glistening,
A beautiful sight, we’re active tonight,
Wintering in a Walker Blunderland.
...
In the meadow, we can build a snowman,
Then pretend that he is Fighting Bob,
He'll say: Are you tired?, we'll say: No man,
We are Badgers, and we'll do the job!
...
When it snows, ain’t it thrilling,
Though your nose gets a chilling,
We’ll camp on the floor, we’ve done it before,
Wintering in a Walker Blunderland.
Solidarity Sing Along is on Facebook -- "like" to keep up with the latest as this unfolds
= = = = = =
Quick update re: Friday's Sing Along -- here's a 12:53pm tweet from Blue Cheddar (bluecheddar1): "No arrests. Just incredible solidarity here at Solidarity Sing Along. Singing "Walking in a Winter Blunderland"."
ACLU says there were at least 300 participants, and the only police officers to be seen were Cops 4 Labor!