On a few freedoms:
I am concerned with the prospect of losing the ability to do what I need to do. Everyone should be able to protest any manner of things, especially when the government is the source of the strain, aches, and dismay. My protesting is practically illegal, criminalized at least, with police presence required in the anti-protest legislature and units arriving at all major protest venues by law. This tends to put people on edge; seeing people who are viewed as the closed fist of the oppressive force makes these First Amendment lovers angry. The police can then find these bared teeth as acts of aggression and do what fists are clenched for. Arrests become costly for the individuals, and the group reassesses their ability to fight this one.
If one embarks on the path to make a change, one must now differ from the original methods of standing out on a freeway or blocking buildings. We must stand far enough away as not to break trespass laws, with the intent from legislators that we do not bother anyone working there, nor does it cut into their bottom line; we must instead make the white moderate mildly annoyed on their day off. These pieces of legislation all stall and mitigate the impact of protest attempts. On top of laws regarding conduct, we must get permission to protest in many areas now, introducing a playground for the little kids to yell and scream at while the adults avoid and go back to work without any concern for change.
Dissent is targeted: Protestors find themselves out thousands of dollars and in prison for up to ten years, and for what? Exercising your First Amendment rights too loudly or without a license to do so becomes a crime. Politicians are ramping up attempts, going after your right to protest in any capacity. If you’re wondering, yes, this is about Donald Trump.
Despite what the re-elected President has to say about it, I think policy is a terrible place to regulate our freedom of speech. President Trump believes that drafting a new policy to make protesting illegal is a way to keep journalists from lying, but in reality, this will only serve to keep him from criticism in moments where he gets his feelings hurt (or he looks terrible).
The ideas even contrast his own ideals; when Trump calls for protestors to be beaten by his own supporters, going so far as to say the President will personally pay their legal fees, inciting violence, but not quite a riot. But when he calls for the swathes of people to storm the capitol and stop the certification of the election, he still gets off scot-free, but that’s freedom of speech.
Gooding v Wilson decided that the 1st amendment voids any statute so broad as to punish both protected and unprotected speech, but he doesn’t realize that this precedent protects him too; Trump’s stated ambitions would make him more likely to find himself legally prosecuted or would be if he were not the President. DJT truly wants to make the media into a nonstop Apprentice marathon, and any dissenting opinion is to be silenced.
-Peyton Schismenos
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