Free speech zone

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The free speech zone at the 2004 Democratic National Convention
The free speech zone at the 2004 Democratic National Convention
The free speech zone at the 2004 Democratic National Convention (different angle)
The free speech zone at the 2004 Democratic National Convention (different angle)

Free speech zones (also known as First Amendment Zones, Free speech cages, and Protest zones) are areas set aside in public places for political activists to exercise their right of free speech in the United States. The First Amendment to the United States Constitution states that "Congress shall make no law... abridging... the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." The existence of free speech zones is based on U.S. court decisions stipulating that the government may regulate the time, place, and manner - but not content - of expression.

The most prominent free speech zones are those created by the Secret Service for President George W. Bush and other members of his administration.[1] The stated purpose of free speech zones is to protect the safety of the dignitary, or the protesters themselves. Critics, however, suggest that such zones are "Orwellian",[2][3] and that authorities use them in a heavy-handed manner to censor protesters by putting them literally out of sight of the mass media, hence the public, as well as visiting dignitaries. The Secret Service denies specifically targeting protesters, but, on a number of occasions, these denials have been contradicted by local police officers who have stated under oath that Secret Service agents specifically ordered them to target protesters. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has filed a number of lawsuits on the issue.

Many colleges and universities earlier instituted free speech zone rules during the Vietnam-era protests of the 1960s and 1970s. In recent years, a number of them have revised or removed these restrictions following student protests and lawsuits.

Contents

[edit] History

During the 1988 Democratic National Convention, the city of Atlanta set up an official "free speech area"[4] so the convention would not be disrupted. A pro-choice demonstrator against an Operation Rescue group said Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young "put us in a free-speech cage."[5] "Protest zones" were used during the 1992 and 1996 United States presidential nominating conventions[6]

Police on Union Street in Seattle during the 1999 WTO conference. The WTO protests catalyzed a number of changes in the way law enforcement deals with protesters
Police on Union Street in Seattle during the 1999 WTO conference. The WTO protests catalyzed a number of changes in the way law enforcement deals with protesters

WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999 protest activity saw a number of changes to how law enforcement deals with protest activities. "The [National Lawyers] Guild, which has a 35-year history of monitoring First Amendment activity, has witnessed a notable change in police treatment of political protesters since the November 1999 World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle. At subsequent gatherings in Washington, D.C., Detroit, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago, and Portland a pattern of behavior that stifles First Amendment rights has emerged". [7] In a subsequent lawsuit, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit found that "It was lawful for the city of Seattle to deem part of downtown off-limits... But the court also said that police enforcing the rule may have gone too far by targeting only those opposed to the WTO, in violation of their First Amendment rights."[8]

Free speech zones were used in Boston at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. The free speech zones organized by the authorities in Boston were boxed in by concrete walls, invisible to the Fleet Center where the convention was held and criticized harshly as a "protest pen" or "Boston's Camp X-Ray".[9] "Some protesters for a short time Monday [July 26, 2004] converted the zone into a mock prison camp by donning hoods and marching in the cage with their hands behind their backs."[10] A coalition of groups protesting the Iraq War challenged the planned protest zones. U. S. District Court Judge Douglas Woodlock was sympathetic to their request: "One cannot conceive of what other design elements could be put into a space to create a more symbolic affront to the role of free expression."[11]. However, he ultimately rejected the petition to move the protest zones closer to the Fleet Center.[12]

Free speech zones were also used in New York City at the 2004 Republican National Convention. According to Mike McGuire, a columnist for the online anti-war magazine Nonviolent Activist, "The policing of the protests during the 2004 Republican National Convention represent[ed] another interesting model of repression. The NYPD tracked every planned action and set up traps. As marches began, police would emerge from their hiding places — building vestibules, parking garages, or vans — and corral the dissenters with orange netting that read 'POLICE LINE – DO NOT CROSS,' establishing areas they ironically called 'ad-hoc free speech zones.' One by one, protesters were arrested and detained—some for nearly two days."[13] Both the Democratic and Republican National parties were joinly awarded a 2005 Jefferson Muzzle from the Thomas Jefferson Center, "For their mutual failure to make the preservation of First Amendment freedoms a priority during the last Presidential election".[11]

Falun Gong protesters inside a fenced-off free speech zone at the 2000 Presidential Debate at Washington University
Falun Gong protesters inside a fenced-off free speech zone at the 2000 Presidential Debate at Washington University

Prominent examples of recent free speech zones are those set up by the Secret Service, who scout locations where the U.S. president is scheduled to speak, or pass through. Officials will target those who carry anti-Bush signs and escort them to the free speech zones prior to and during the event. Reporters are often barred by local officials from displaying these protesters on camera or speaking to them within the zone.[14] Protesters who refuse to go to the free speech zone are often arrested and charged with trespassing, disorderly conduct and/or resisting arrest.[15][16] A seldom-used federal law making it unlawful to "willfully and knowingly to enter or remain in ... any posted, cordoned off, or otherwise restricted area of a building or grounds where the President or other person protected by the Secret Service is or will be temporarily visiting" has also been invoked.[17][18]

[edit] Criticisms

A "First Amendment Area" at the Muir Woods National Monument.
A "First Amendment Area" at the Muir Woods National Monument.

Civil libertarians claim that Free Speech Zones are used as a form of censorship and public relations management to conceal the existence of popular opposition from the mass public and elected officials.[19] There is much controversy surrounding the creation of these areas — the mere existence of such zones is offensive to some people, who maintain that the First Amendment to the United States Constitution makes the entire country an unrestricted free speech zone.[19] The Department of Homeland Security "has even gone so far as to tell local police departments to regard critics of the War on Terrorism as potential terrorists themselves."[15][20]

The Bush administration has been criticized by columnist James Bovard of The American Conservative for requiring protesters to stay within a designated area, while allowing supporters access to more areas.[16] According to the Chicago Tribune, the American Civil Liberties Union has asked a federal court in Washington D.C. to prevent the Secret Service from keeping anti-Bush protesters distant from presidential appearances while allowing supporters to display their messages up close, where they are likely to be seen by the news media.[16]

The preliminary plan for the 2004 Democratic National Convention was criticized by the National Lawyers Guild and the ACLU of Massachusetts as being insufficient to handle the size of the expected protest. "The zone would hold as few as 400 of the several thousand protesters who are expected in Boston in late July."[21]

[edit] Notable incidents and court proceedings

The Supreme Court found in Thornhill v. Alabama that picketing and marching in public areas is protected by the United States Constitution as free speech. However, subsequent rulings - Edwards v. South Carolina, Brown v. Louisiana, Cox v. Louisiana, and Adderley v. Florida - found that picketing is afforded less protection than pure speech due to the physical externalities it creates. Regulations on demonstrations may affect the time, place, and manner of those demonstrations, but may not discriminate based on the content of the demonstration.

The Secret Service denies targeting the President's political opponents. "Decisions made in the formulation of a security plan are based on security considerations, not political considerations.", said one Secret Service spokesman.[22]

[edit] Bill Neel

"These [Free Speech] zones routinely succeed in keeping protesters out of presidential sight and outside the view of media covering the event. When Bush came to the Pittsburgh area on Labor Day 2002, 65-year-old retired steel worker Bill Neel was there to greet him with a sign proclaiming, 'The Bush family must surely love the poor, they made so many of us.' The local police, at the Secret Service's behest, set up a 'designated free-speech zone' on a baseball field surrounded by a chain-link fence a third of a mile from the location of Bush's speech. The police cleared the path of the motorcade of all critical signs, though folks with pro-Bush signs were permitted to line the president's path. Neel refused to go to the designated area and was arrested for disorderly conduct... Police detective John Ianachione testified that the Secret Service told local police to confine 'people that were there making a statement pretty much against the president and his views.'"[16][23] District justice Shirley Trkula threw out the charges, stating that "I believe this is America. Whatever happened to 'I don't agree with you, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it'?"[1]

[edit] Brett Bursey

At another incident during a presidential visit to South Carolina, protester Brett Bursey refused an order by Secret Service agents to go to a free speech zone half-a-mile away. He was arrested and charged with trespassing by the South Carolina police. "Bursey said that he asked the policeman if 'it was the content of my sign, and he said, 'Yes, sir, it's the content of your sign that's the problem.'"[16] However, the prosecution, led by J. Strom Thurmond Jr., disputes Bursey's version of events.[24] Trespassing charges against Bursey were dropped, and Bursey was instead indicted by the federal government for violation of a federal law that allows the Secret Service to restrict access to areas visited by the president.[16] Bursey faced up to six months in prison and a US$5,000 fine.[16] After a bench trial, Bursey was convicted of the offense of trespassing, but judge Bristow Marchant deemed the offense to be relatively minor and ordered a fine of $500 be assessed, which Bursey appealed, and lost.[25] In his ruling, Marchant found that "this is not to say that the Secret Service's power to restrict the area around the President is absolute, nor does the Court find that protesters are required to go to a designated demonstration area — which was an issue in this case — as long as they do not otherwise remain in a properly restricted area."[25]

Marchant's ruling however, was criticized for three reasons:

  • The ruling found that Bursey was not the victim of selective prosecution because Bursey was the only person who had refused an order to leave the area. However, this overlooks the fact that nobody else refused to leave the zone because nobody else was asked to leave. [26]
  • The prosecution claimed that the protected zone around the President was 100 yards wide. However, it was unmarked, with cars and trucks allowed to pass through and drop off ticket-holders, and nobody was willing to tell protesters where the zone's boundaries were. Marchant's decision noted this but did not find this unreasonable. [26]
  • Marchant found that in the "age of suicide bombers", the Secret Service should have latitude to get rid of anyone suspicious who is standing near the president's route. However, given that the reason Bursey was singled out by the Secret Service was his sign, "it's enough to make anyone with a dissenting view think twice before deciding to stand out from a crowd."[26]

[edit] ACLU litigation

In 2003, the ACLU brought a lawsuit against the secret service, ACORN v. Secret Service, representing the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN). "The federal court in Philadelphia dismissed that case in March [2004] after the Secret Service acknowledged that it could not discriminate against protesters through the use of out-of-sight, out-of-earshot protest zones."[27] Another 2003 lawsuit against the city of Philadelphia, ACORN v. Philadelphia, charged that the Philadelphia Police Department, on orders from the Secret Service, had kept protesters "further away from the site of presidential visits than Administration supporters. A high-ranking official of the Philadelphia police told [ACLU of Pennsylvania Legal Director Stefan] Presser that he was only following Secret Service orders."[19][28] However, the court found the ACLU lacked standing to bring the case and dismissed it.[29]

"The Secret Service says it does establish 'public viewing areas' to protect dignitaries but does not discriminate against individuals based on the content of their signs or speech. 'Absolutely not,' said Tom Mazur, a spokesman for the agency created to protect the president. 'The Secret Service makes no distinction on the purpose, message or intent of any individual or group.' Civil libertarians dispute that. They cite a Corpus Christi, Texas, couple, Jeff and Nicole Rank, as an example. The two were arrested at a Bush campaign event in Charleston, West Virginia, on July 4, 2004, when they refused to take off anti-Bush shirts. Their shirts read, "Love America, Hate Bush... The ACLU found 17 cases since March 2001 in which protesters were removed during events where the president or vice president appeared. And lawyers say it's an increasing trend."[30]

The incident occurred several months after the Secret Service's pledge in ACORN v. Secret Service not to discriminate against protesters. "The charges against the Ranks were ultimately dismissed in court and the mayor and city council publicly apologized for the arrest. City officials also said that local law enforcement was acting at the request of Secret Service."[31] ACLU Senior Staff Attorney Chris Hansen pointed out that "The Secret Service has promised to not curtail the right to dissent at presidential appearances, and yet we are still hearing stories of people being blocked from engaging in lawful protest," said Hansen. "It is time for the Secret Service to stop making empty promises."[31] The Ranks subsequently filed a lawsuit, Rank v. Jenkins, against Deputy Assistant to the President Greg Jenkins and the Secret Service. "The lawsuit, Rank v. Jenkins, is seeking unspecified damages as well as a declaration that the actions leading to the removal of the Ranks from the Capitol grounds were unconstitutional."[31] As of November 2006, the lawsuit was still ongoing.[32]

[edit] On college and university campuses

The use of free speech zones on university campuses is controversial. Many universities created on-campus free speech zones during the 1960s and 1970s, during which protests on-campus (especially against the Vietnam War) were common. Generally, the requirements are that the University is given advance notice and that they are held in locations that do not disrupt classes.

In 1968, the Supreme Court ruled in Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District that non-disruptive speech is permitted in public schools. However, this does not apply to private universities. In September, 2004, U.S. District Court Judge Sam Cummings struck down Texas Tech's free speech zone policy. "According to the opinion of the court, campus areas such as parks, sidewalks, streets and other areas are designated as public forums, regardless of whether the university has chosen to officially designate the areas as such. The university may open more of the campus as public forums for its students, but it cannot designate fewer areas... Not all places within the boundaries of the campus are public forums, according to Cummings' opinion. The court declared the university's policy unconstitutional to the extent that it regulates the content of student speech in areas of the campus that are public forums".[33]

In December 2005, the College Libertarians at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro staged a protest outside the University's designed protest zones. The specific intent of the protest was to provoke just such a charge, in order to "provoke the system into action into a critical review of what's going on."[34] Two students, Allison Jaynes and Robert Sinnott, were brought up on charges under the student code of conduct of "violation of respect",[35] for refusing to move when told to do so by a university official.[34] The university subsequently dropped honor code charges against the students.[34] "University officials said the history of the free-speech zones is not known. 'It predated just about everybody here," said Lucien 'Skip' Capone III, the university attorney. The policy may be a holdover from the Vietnam War and civil rights era, he said.'"[34]

A number of colleges and universities have revised or revoked free speech zone policies in the last decade, including: Tufts University,[36] Appalachian State University,[36] and West Virginia University.[36][37] In August, 2006, Penn State University revised its seven year old rules restricting the rights of students to protest. "In effect, the whole campus is now a 'free-speech zone.'"[38]

Controversies have also occurred at the University of Southern California,[39] Indiana University,[40] and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.[41]

At Marquette University, philosophy department chairman James South ordered graduate student Stuart Ditsler to remove an unattributed Dave Barry quote from the door to the office that Ditsler shared with three other teaching assistants, calling the quote patently offensive. (The quote was: "As Americans we must always remember that we all have a common enemy, an enemy that is dangerous, powerful, and relentless. I refer, of course, to the federal government.") South claimed that the University's free-speech zone rules required Ditsler to take it down. University spokeswoman Brigid O'Brien Miller stated that it was "a workplace issue, not one of academic freedom."[42][43] Ultimately, the quote was allowed to remain, albeit with attribution.[44]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Hightower, Jim. Bush Zones Go National. The Nation, July 29, 2004. Retrieved on December 20, 2006.
  2. ^ Bailey, Ronald. Orwellian "Free Speech Zones" violate the constitution. Reason, February 4, 2004. Retrieved on January 3, 2007.
  3. ^ McNulty, Rebecca. Fla. College Student Successfully Fights Campus 'Free Speech Zone'. Foundation for Individual Rights in Education Student Press Law Center, June 28, 2005. Retrieved January 3, 2007.
  4. ^ Warren, Susan. "Protests cause Young to boost police presence", Houston Chronicle, July 19, 1988. Retrieved from Proquest on February 28, 2007.
  5. ^ Blake, Andrew. "Atlanta's Steamy Heat Cools Protests; More Than 25 Groups Rally In Demonstration Area", Boston Globe, July 20, 1988. Retrieved from Proquest on February 28, 2007.
  6. ^ Riccardi, Nicholas Convention planners wary of a new style of protest. Los Angeles Times, June 23, 2000. Retrieved February 10, 2007
  7. ^ Boghosian, Heidi. The Assault on Free Speech, Public Assembly, and Dissent - A National Lawyers Guild Report on Government Violations of First Amendment Rights in the United States. The National Lawyer's Guild, 2004. Retrieved on December 20, 2006
  8. ^ O'Hagan, Maureen. WTO no-protest zone upheld; But demonstrators can pursue lawsuits. The Seattle Times, June 3, 2005. Retrieved from Lexis Nexis on January 1, 2007
  9. ^ Goodman, Amy, and Scott Cooper. ACLU & NLG Groups Sue Over DNC "Free Speech Zone" aka Boston's Camp X-Ray. Democracy Now!, July 26, 2004. Retrieved on December 20, 2006.
  10. ^ Baard, Mark. Free Speech Behind the Razor Wire. Wired Magazine, July 27, 2004. Retrieved December 20, 2006.
  11. ^ a b The 2005 Jefferson Muzzles. The Thomas Jefferson Center.
  12. ^ Judge Denies DNC Free-Speech Zone Challenge. WCVB-TV Boston, July 22, 2004. Retrieved February 15, 2007.
  13. ^ McGuire, Mike. Policing Dissent. Nonviolent Activist magazine. January, 2006. Retrieved on December 19, 2006.
  14. ^ Freedom Under Fire: Dissent in Post-9/11 America - "Police also barred reporters from entering the protest zone to interview dissenters." ACLU. March 28, 2003.
  15. ^ a b Bovard, James. Quarantining dissent - How the Secret Service protects Bush from free speech The San Francisco Chronicle, January 4, 2004. Retrieved on December 20, 2006.
  16. ^ a b c d e f g Bovard, James. "Free-Speech Zone" - The administration quarantines dissent The American Conservative, December 15, 2003. Retrieved on December 20, 2006.
  17. ^ Eaton, Leslie. A Flashback to the 60's for an Antiwar Protester. The New York Times, April 27, 2003. Retrieved from Refuse & Resist on December 20, 2006
  18. ^ § 1752. Temporary residences and offices of the President and others. Cornell University law school
  19. ^ a b c Secret Service Ordered Local Police to Restrict Anti-Bush Protesters at Rallies, ACLU Charges in Unprecedented Nationwide Lawsuit. ACLU press release, September 23, 2003
  20. ^ Cline, Austin. "Free Speech" Zones. About.com, December 24, 2003. Retrieved on December 20, 2006
  21. ^ Klein, Rick. Convention plan puts protesters blocks away. The Boston Globe, February 20, 2004. Retrieved on December 20, 2006.
  22. ^ Cowan, Lee. Silencing Voices Of Dissent. CBS news, December 4, 2003. Retrieved January 23, 2006.
  23. ^ Pennsylvania v. Neel transcript. WarLaw archive.
  24. ^ Thurmond, J. Strom, Jr. As Court Ruled, Bursey’s Free Speech Not Trampled. The State, Guest columnist, January 13, 2004. Retrieved from the WarLaw archive on January 2, 2006.
  25. ^ a b United States v. Bursey Transcript of Verdict Hearing. WarLaw archive.
  26. ^ a b c Katz, Jonathan. Thou Dost Protest Too Much. Slate Magazine, September 21,2004. Retrieved January 23, 2007
  27. ^ ACLU Files Lawsuit on Behalf of Protesters Arrested at Bush Rally in Pennsylvania. ACLU press release, December 9, 2004. Retrieved on December 22, 2006.
  28. ^ ACORN v. Philadelphia docket sheet. WarLaw archive
  29. ^ Fact Sheet on Political Dissent and Censorship The Free Expression Policy Project, November 2006. Retrieved December 22, 2006.
  30. ^ Montgomery, Ben. Is It Free Speech If Protesters In Effect Are Put In Quarantine? The Tampa Tribune, July 4, 2005. Retrieved from Lexis Nexis on December 20, 2006
  31. ^ a b c Secret Service and White House Charged with Violating Free Speech Rights in ACLU Lawsuit. ACLU press release, September 14, 2004. Retrieved on December 22, 2006.
  32. ^ ACLU of West Virginia Foundation docket as of November 3, 2006
  33. ^ Lora, Meghann. Texas Tech coming closer to new free speech policy'. Texas Tech University Daily. January 12, 2005. Retrieved from Lexis Nexis on December 20, 2006
  34. ^ a b c d Withers, Lanita. UNCG drops speech-zone charges. News & Record, January 18, 2004. Retrieved from Lexis Nexis on December 20, 2006
  35. ^ Stancill, Jane. UNCG in free speech battle. The News and Observer, December 17, 2005. Retrieved from Lexis Nexis on December 20, 2006
  36. ^ a b c Vernarsky, Taylor. Many students unaware of free-speech policy at U. Central Florida. Central Florida Future. University of Central Florida, August 1, 2006. Retrieved January 1, 2007.
  37. ^ WVU drops 'free speech zone' policy. CNN, via Associated Press. November 14, 2002. Retrieved February 15, 2007.
  38. ^ Smeltz, Adam. University ends policy of 'free-speech zones'. The Centre Daily Times, August 16, 2006. Retrieved from Lexis Nexis on December 20, 2006
  39. ^ Hawkins, Stephanie. USC students challenge speech policies. Daily Trojan. University of Southern California, March 31, 2005. Retrieved from Lexis Nexis, January 1, 2007.
  40. ^ Staff Editorial, Indiana Daily Student. Indiana U. student association halfway there. Indiana University, September 19, 2005. Retrieved from Lexis Nexis on January 1, 2007.
  41. ^ Mitchell, Thomas. Dissing authority, not crime, gets you time. Las Vegas Review-Journal, December 3, 2006. Retrieved from Lexis Nexis on January 1, 2007.
  42. ^ Pimentel. It's all a free-speech zone. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, October 23, 2006. Retrieved from Lexis Nexis on January 1, 2007.
  43. ^ Foley, Ryan J. Free speech group ridicules Marquette for removal of Barry quote. Associated Press, October 18, 2006. Retrieved from Lexis Nexis on January 1, 2007.
  44. ^ McAdams, John. Marquette: We Can’t Allow Speech To Which Somebody Objects. Marquette Warrior blog. October 19, 2006. Retrieved on January 1, 2007

[edit] External links

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