[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).