BoatBanter.com - View Single Post

John H[_2_]

On Tue, 01 Nov 2011 00:50:27 -0400, wrote:

On Mon, 31 Oct 2011 19:14:04 -0700, jps wrote:

Looks like some judges may still be interested in protecting people's
constitutional rights...

Wonder if that'll filter up to the SCOTUS.

A federal judge Monday afternoon ordered Tennessee to stop enforcing
new rules that restricted “Occupy Nashville” demonstrators’ ability to
protest in response to a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties
Union of Tennessee (ACLU-TN).

“The state cannot arbitrarily create restrictive policies just because
it does not like how people are using a public space,” said ACLU-TN
Legal Director Tricia Herzfeld. “Today’s decision is the first step in
restoring demonstrators’ free speech rights.”

We probably have a better test case going on in Ft Myers. There is a
long standing law against camping in the park and pretty much anywhere
but a designated (zoned) camp ground within the city. You also need a
permit to do much more than visit the park and it closes at night.

It is going to be interesting when they try to make the case that
"camping" is "speech". If the protesters win, the result might be
chilling. It would say that if you have something to gripe about, you
can camp anywhere you want.

It does make me wonder how long these people would last in Lafayette
Park, right outside Obama's front door, in DC.

And I suppose I would be allowed to camp at Lake Anna State Park if I have a gripe or two.

Sounds good to me!