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Weirdly, this is relevant.(TIZIANA FABI/AFP/Getty Images)

Its been quite a morning for the Congressional brain trust, with dueling tweets from GOP freshmen Reps. Madison Cawthorn and Lauren Boebert splaining to the Real Murikans about CONSTITUTION, HOW DOES IT GO.

First off, the 25-year-old wunderkind from North Carolina would like a word with the Pope on employment practices at the Holy See.

Does Mr. Cawthorn think Vatican City is in Massachusetts? In which godless liberal enclave outside San Francisco or Boston does the good congressman believe its located?

Hes also wrong as a matter of American law. But then again, the EEOCs reach doesnt extend to the Vatican so probably best that we move on to whatever this nonsense is.

Ah yes, the sacred Constitution. Handed down by Jesus on Mount Sinai, unchanged since dinosaurs walked the earth.

If Ms. Boebert could take just a moment out of arranging loaded firearms into a crche, she might just peruse Article V of said Constitution, which sets out a procedure to rewrite the parts you dont like.

To wit:

The Congress, whenever two thirds of both houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution, or, on the application of the legislatures of two thirds of the several states, shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which, in either case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the legislatures of three fourths of the several states, or by conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the Congress;

And by the Congress, they mean that place where she works thanks to her fellow Colorado voters.

Or Ms. Boebert can just read this ATL article we wrote in September when Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn tweeted, We will never rewrite the Constitution of the United States, in apparent ignorance of the 27 times we did just that, and having forgotten all those stupid marriage and flag-burning amendments she herself proposed.

Reps. Cawthorn and Boebert will have to up their game if they want to top Sen. Blackburn in the Congressional Dumbassery Olympics. But theyre off to a roaring start!

Wait, wait! Cawthorns back for another try.

Dont sleep on this kid hes really going places.

Elizabeth Dye lives in Baltimore where she writes about law and politics.

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Freshman Rep. Madison Cawthorn Schools Pope On First Amendment - Above the Law

opinion

The First Amendment provides that "Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech …" But this Free Speech clause simply does not apply to impeachments or other firing of government employees, for reasons which I will explain. The desperation of Donald Trump's impeachment case lawyers was clearly revealed by their argument that his conviction would violate this clause.

Let's look at parallel situations for other governmental employees.In the early 1890s a policeman was fired for off-duty politicking. He sued. The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts refused relief. "The petitioner may have a constitutional right to talk politics, but he has no constitutional right to be a policeman," said future U.S. Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, then sitting on the Massachusetts court.

By analogy, Donald Trump may have had a constitutional right to give inflammatory speeches, but he had no constitutional right to be president.

Although later courts have gotten a little queasy about Holmes' argument, it made a valid point then and still does today.

The Hatch Act allows for firing of federal civil servants for specified political activities, including certain kinds of political speech. Banning such speech would clearly violate the Free Speech clause if done by a law applying to the general public. But the courts have repeatedly upheld the Hatch Act.

The constitutional difference between the Hatch Act and a general law prohibiting exactly the same speech lies in the kind of punishment they inflict. The rules violated by civil servants who run afoul of the Hatch Act can be enforced by removal from public office, a withdrawn or terminated inducement. Laws banning the very same activities for the general public would be enforced by a sanction a deprivation of life, libertyor property, as the Constitution puts it.

This important distinction is clearly and specifically stated in the Constitution's provisions for impeachment:

"Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from office and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States [withdrawn inducements]; but the party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to indictment, trial, judgment and punishment, according to law [sanctions]."

The only punishment if Trump had been convicted would have been removal from the presidency (which had already happened), and ineligibility for future government office, both of which are discontinued or denied inducements. There would have been no sanctions and the Free Speech clause was therefore inapplicable.

If Donald Trump had been convicted on the impeachment and then charged with a criminal offense for his speech, that would have been an appropriate time for his lawyers to invoke the First Amendment. The time may still come when they need to do that. Although it is argued that a sitting president cannot be indicted for a crime, Trump is no longer president.

A president's words are notjustwords. They are a critical part of his actions as chief executive, and they come from a person who occupies a "bully pulpit" as noted by Theodore Roosevelt. As President Calvin Coolidge put it,"The words of the president have an enormous weight and ought not be used indiscriminately."

It was irrelevant whether Mr. Trumpintendedhis "rigged elections" rhetoric before and after the election, his inflammatory addresses to rallies, and his speech to the mob on Jan. 6 to lead supporters to attack the Capitol.

If he intended to get them to attack, he was clearly guilty of fomenting insurrection. But even if he didn't intend any such result, testimony by numerous rioters that theyunderstoodhim to be advocating an attack should have sufficed to convict him for using his bully pulpit so incompetently as to give them this impression.

Paul F. deLespinasse is professor emeritus of political science and computer science at Adrian College. He can be reached atpdeles@proaxis.com.

This first appeared at http://www.newsmax.com.

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Paul F. deLespinasse: Why the First Amendment does not apply to impeachments - Monroe Evening News

Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. is widely considered, along with Justice Louis D. Brandeis, to be one of the guardians of the First Amendment. He authored many of the seminal decisions that explained why our country should protect freedom of speech. For example, he first used the terminology clear and present danger 100 years ago to help draw the line between protected and unprotected speech in Schenck v. United States(1919).

But Holmes produced another phrase in his Schenck opinion that may be even better known a phrase deeply enmeshed in our cultural lexicon: shouting Fire in a theatre. The case involved the prosecution of Charles T. Schenck and Elizabeth Baer for distributing leaflets urging people to refuse to comply with the draft. Schenck, the general secretary of the Socialist Party, opposed U.S. involvement in World War I and believed that conscription was akin to slavery.

In the leaflets, Schenck and Baer mentioned the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, which outlawed slavery and involuntary servitude. In other words, the political dissidents believed that conscription into the armed forces amounted to a form of indentured servitude. The leaflets urged no violence and included the phrase Assert Your Rights.

Nevertheless, Justice Holmes affirmed the convictions for a unanimous Supreme Court. He explained:

We admit that in many places and in ordinary times the defendants in saying all that was said in the circular would have been within their constitutional rights. But the character of every act depends upon the circumstances in which it is done. The most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man in falsely shouting Fire in a theatre and causing a panic The question in every case is whether the words used are used in such circumstances and are of such a nature as to create a clear and present danger that they will bring about the substantive evils that Congress has a right to prevent. It is question of proximity and degree.i

In other words, Justice Holmes and his colleagues found that passing out leaflets against conscription in the armed forces created a clear and present danger during wartime and thus was not protected under the First Amendment.

Lets measure this against what President Trump did on January 6, 2021. He knew that there would be a crowd of his supporters in Washington, D.C., supporting his false claims that he had won the election in November 2020 and that the election had been stolen from him. He invited the crowd to go down with him to the Capitol and make their and his views known. Although he did not go with them, he knew with the hour that the crowd had broken into the Capitol and put Senators and Congressmen at risk of injury. He knew specifically that he had called out Mike Pence. He learned that Mike Pence was in danger and did nothing about it. And he did nothing to dissuade the crowd from violence in the Capitol and against members of Congress. The result was five deaths in the building.

Measure this against the crime of passing out leaflets and arguing that Congress was enslaving men through conscription. The clear and present danger was that the defendants might convince a significant number of men to refuse conscription and thereby undercut American war efforts. But a lot of that was based solely on guesswork. The defendants did not know that they would be successful. Nor did they know how successful they might be. Yet the fact that they might be successful with detriment to the society was enough to convict them, at least in time of war.

Trump, on the other hand, was clearly guilty of attracting the crowd to the Capitol and sending them down to the Capitol. He may not have known that he would be successful in convincing them to attack the Capitol, but that was his goal. He was happy when the crowd acted with violence and refused to try to dissuade them from their acts. What he did and did not do was a clear and present danger to the Capitol and the people in it, far more than the defendants in the case Holmes was writing about.

Then, too, a President has taken an oath of office to protect and defend the nation. I do not think that his acts must constitute a clear and present danger to the government which he has sworn to protect and defend. He is permitted to speak his mind, but not in a manner which would place the government in any danger. Trump could have written and published his speech without putting the government in danger. He could exercise his First Amendment rights in a manner which would not be likely to lead to violence.

The defense posed by his lawyers was clearly incorrect, and those who voted for him (many of whom were lawyers) were just doing party politics. Trump had violated his oath of office, and nothing in the constitution protected him from impeachment.

FALL FUNDRAISER

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The Trump impeachment and the First Amendment - NationofChange

The Star-Ledger won the general excellence award in the 2020 New Jersey Press Association Better Newspaper Contest, the association announced Friday.

It was the eighth time in the past 11 years The Star-Ledger won the award. Journalists at NJ Advance Media provide the majority of the locally produced content for The Star-Ledger, NJ.com and other affiliated papers.

In addition to the general excellence award, The Star-Ledger also took home top honors in various editorial, advertising and photography awards with much of the coverage focused on the devastating effects the coronavirus pandemic has had on New Jersey.

Year in and year out, we have proven that we have the best team of journalists in New Jersey, said Kevin Whitmer, the organizations lead editor. The pandemic pushed our journalists to new levels of service and quality journalism. That shows in these results and the fact that millions of readers every day now rely on our work to keep them safe and informed.

Staff and reporters won first-place awards in the breaking news, critical writing, scholastic sports portfolio and other categories. The Star-Ledger received 18 first-place, 12 second-place and eight third-place awards, for a total of 38 editorial awards, the most since the 2014 contest.

Journalists who took home individual awards include sports reporter Brian Fonseca, who won first place for the Robert P. Kelly Award, which is given to a permanent staffer with less than a year of professional experience at the time of publication; Karin Price Mueller, who won a prize for her portfolio of business and government stories; and Dave DAlessandro, who was cited for a portfolio of editorials.

Columnist Emeritus Jerry Izenberg won first place among sports columnists with a portfolio focused on underserved communities -- Negro League ballplayers, an overlooked Native American boxer and Colin Kaepernicks quest for social justice. Izenberg, 90, recently was inducted into the N.J. Hall of Fame and has been writing for The Star-Ledger since 1951, when he was a student at Rutgers University in Newark.

Other first-place writing awards went to Steve Politi, for his sports writing portfolio; Bobby Olivier, in the critical writing category; and Phil Cornell, for best headlines.

Star Ledger photography garnered one first-place award by Chris Faytok and four second-place awards.

The papers advertising team collected five first-place awards, three second place awards and two third-place awards.

NJ.com also took home 13 advertising and digital marketing awards, while Lori M. Nichols and Tim Hawk of The South Jersey Times took home 12 awards for photography.

Hawk won six first-place awards for work affiliated with The South Jersey Times.

The Star-Ledger competes in the states largest circulation category. The Express-Times of Easton, Pa., which is also part of NJ Advance Media, won the general excellence award in the under 25,000 circulation category. It marked the first time NJ Advance Media swept the daily contest since the company was formed in 2014.

The first-, second- and third-place winners from The Star-Ledger, South Jersey Times and NJ.com were:

Editorial:

First Place - Responsible Journalism - Enterprise Reporting - Coronavirus Pandemic Coverage - Staff

First Place - Responsible Journalism - First Amendment - Art Weissman Memorial Award - Unpaid and Unanswered and coverage of the states unemployment crisis - Sophie Nieto-Munoz, Karin Price Mueller, Matthew Stanmyre and Bobby Olivier

First Place - Responsible Journalism - Editorial Comment - Murphy and his golf cronies have Liberty State Park in their crosshairs. This is a recording // Helping hungry kids is a SNAP. So whats keeping NJ from helping? // Welcome back to the MVC. This is what hell is like. - Dave DAlessandro

First Place - Reporting and Writing - Breaking News - Statewide COVID-19 Shutdown - Staff

First Place - Reporting and Writing - Business & Government Writing Portfolio - Widow struggles to get rid of lease for husbands new car after he dies of coronavirus // This boss used his home equity line to pay health insurance for his employees after shutdown // Cancer patient has waited 248 days for unemployment check - Karin Price Mueller

First Place - Reporting and Writing - Critical Writing - Springsteen Letter to You album review: A masterful rock memoir, his best in many years // Ive given up on N.J.s drive-in concert experiment. Heres why. // Celine Dion, alleged fellow human, is flawless at 1st N.J. concert in a decade - Bobby Olivier

First Place - Reporting and Writing - Robert P. Kelly Award-New Journalist - Address me by my name: Rutgers Ron Harper Jr. goes one-on-one with his fathers legacy // Why has Rutgers ignored this forgotten NCAA Tournament team? // Early arrivals, middle fingers and sold-out jerseys: NJ football fans welcome the XFLs Guardians - Brian Fonseca

First Place - Reporting and Writing - Scholastic Sports Portfolio - What will it take to pull off HS sports this fall in N.J.? // She fought for a girls golf team at her school and won. Then the pandemic hit. // After 2 decades, 337 wins and 1 untouchable legacy, Mike Otto retires from Delran - Brian Deakyne

First Place - Reporting and Writing - Sports Column - Negro League stars went to their graves waiting for recognition as Baseball dragged its feet // Mixed blood, sweat and tears: The long, strange and untold saga of boxing champion Marvin Camel // Roger Goodell still owes Colin Kaepernick an apology - Jerry Izenberg

First Place - Reporting and Writing - Sports Writing Portfolio - Meet the NJ siblings conquering the odds and Rutgers med school to chase Olympic fencing gold // Greg Schiano on why he left Rutgers and his road back to NJ // Eric LeGrand knows the coronavirus might kill him. He hasnt left his house in 28 days. - Steve Politi

First Place - Reporting and Writing - Best Headlines - In time of need, paper guy brings kindness to his fold // All the worlds a stage of reopening // Cut out for the role of fans - Phil Cornell

First Place - Best Audio Category - #TogetherNJ - Jessica Remo, Jessica Mazzola, Katie Kausch

First Place - Best Video Portfolio - Andre Malok

First Place - Best Video Series - #TogetherNJ - Staff

First Place - Best Web Event - 24 Hours in Crisis - Staff

First Place - Design and Presentation - Feature Section Page Design Portfolio - Feature Page Design Portfolio - Jennifer Meyer

First Place - Reporting and Writing - Special Issue-In Paper - Another Day in Crisis - Staff

Second Place - Best Web Event - Silent Stages - Bobby Olivier, Aristide Economopoulos

Second Place - Innovation Award - Coronavirus Text Message Alerts - Staff

Second Place - Responsible Journalism - Public Service - Lloyd P. Burns Memorial Award - The Kids Left Behind - Adam Clark

Second Place - Reporting and Writing - Sports Column - Stop the games. All of them. // Rutgers star Geo Baker can lead a movement and make a different kind of history // As the Washington Redskins move toward name change, insensitive NJ school mascots finally have to go, too - Steve Politi

Second Place - Reporting and Writing - Scholastic Sports Portfolio - Years later, fate brings miracle babies from deaths door to state wrestling tourney // 126-pound final: Bergen Catholics Robert Howard leaves legacy for all to see // After sudden death of his brother, Becton football coach leads team to division title - Patrick Lanni

Second Place - Best Audio Category - Today in N.J. - Libby Cardone

Second Place - Design and Presentation - News/Business Page Design Portfolio - News Page Design Portfolio - James Moening

Second Place - Reporting and Writing - Local News Coverage - Staff

Third Place - Reporting and Writing - Specialty Writing Portfolio - This N.J. man took his own life during the pandemic // N.J.s coronavirus outbreak may have started at a Yonkers racetrack // Nine pages of obituaries in 1 day. Heres how our writers are chronicling the loss. - Keith Sargeant

Third Place - General Coronavirus/COVID-19 Coverage - Coronavirus has killed dozens in state prisons. How N.J. failed to stop it. - Blake Nelson, S.P. Sullivan, Joe Atmonavage

Third Place - Responsible Journalism - Editorial Comment - Im going to lose my life in this place: ICE detainees beg for release // Theyre going to kill us in here Or will ICE finally act? // Were losing our battle with COVID. Murphy must act now and so should all of us - Julie OConnor

Third Place - Reporting and Writing - Feature- Lifestyle and Entertainment Writing Portfolio - The Survivor // This 100-year-old trailblazer, and her passion for voting, is the Election Day pick-me-up you need // Cancel Thanksgiving? My mother cant bear the thought. - Jessica Remo

Third Place - Reporting and Writing - News Column - Im not the same person I was a year ago and neither are you. How we survived the most unusual year of our lives. // What do all the coronavirus deniers have to say now? I asked them. // Cancel Thanksgiving? My mother cant bear the thought. - Jessica Remo

Third Place - Best Video - Beloved 94-year-old hot dog lady is still working after months of COVID quarantine - Andre Malok

Third Place - Best Video Portfolio - Mel Ibarra

Third Place - Best Video Series - N.J. is Open - Dwayne Uzoaru

Advertising:

First Place - Best Ad in a Niche Publication/Magazine - RCCA Living With Cancer in 2020 - Melissa Chin, Senior Creative Consultant, NJ Advance Media; Julie Williams, Senior Account Manager, NJ Advance Media

First Place - Best Ad Professional & Technology Services- color or b&w - Precision Overhead Garage Door Service is New Jerseys #1 Choice - Alaa Selim, Senior Creative Consultant, NJ Advance Media; Jeff Ruderman, Director Digital Operations, NJ Advance Media

First Place - Best Special Topic Page(s) - Star Ledger Memorial Day Tribute - Classified Sales NJ Advance Media

First Place - Best Niche Publication/Magazine - Jerseys Best Spring 2020 - Kim Alvarez, Vice President, Business Development & Classified, NJ Advance Media; Jerseys Best Staff, NJ Advance Media

First Place - Best Special Section - First Night Morris 2021 - Melissa Chin, Senior Creative Consultant, NJ Advance Media; Isabella Mest, Director, Direct Marketing, NJ Advance Media

Second Place - Best Classified Pages - SL Careers March 15, 2020 - Recruitment Sales Team, NJ Advance Media

Second Place - Best External Promotion Piece or Media Kit - Jerseys Best Marketing Media Kit - Robert Morgia, Marketing Specialist, NJ Advance Media; Isabella Mest, Director, Direct Marketing, NJ Advance Media; Michele Hayes, Associate Vice President, Marketing, NJ Advance Media

Second Place - Best Special Section - Top Workplaces - Recruitment Sales Team NJ Advance Media

Third Place - Best Special Section Cover - Fall Travel - Angela Perilla, Creative & Marketing Associate, NJ Advance Media

Third Place - Best Ad in a Niche Publication/Magazine - Springpoint Discover An All-Inclusive Lifestyle - Melissa Chin, Senior Creative Consultant, NJ Advance Media; Dawn Apisa, Print Account Manager, NJ Advance Media

Photography:

First - Sports Feature - Steam - Chris Faytok

Second - General News- Sons Farewell - Patti Sapone

Second - News Picture Story - End of Watch

Second - Portrait - Witch Doctor - Aristide Economopoulos

Second - Spot News - Fatal Fire - Aristide Economopoulos

Advertising:

First Place - Best Digital Ad Campaign - Vitafusion CBD Full Spectrum Hemp Extract Gummies - Creative Team, NJ Advance Media; Yvonne Lardizabal, Senior Search/Social Account Manager, NJ Advance Media; Chris Allen Director, Digital Products, NJ Advance Media

First Place - Best Digital Impact Ad - Segal & Morel - Live Better, Spend Less, Get More - Alaa Selim, Senior Creative Consultant, NJ Advance Media; Ashley Miller, Digital Account Manager, NJ Advance Media

First Place - Best Digital Standard Unit Ad - Lofts at Pier Village - Winter: Dont Miss Your Chance - Alaa Selim, Senior Creative Consultant, NJ Advance Media; Jeff Horn, Director, Sales, Real Estate, NJ Advance Media; Kenneth Bramson, Senior Digital Account Manager, NJ Advance Media

First Place - Best Multi-Media Online & Print Campaign - Centers for Neurosurgery Spine & Orthopedics - Melissa Chin, Senior Creative Consultant, NJ Advance Media; Angela Perilla, Creative & Marketing Associate, NJ Advance Media; Casey Donnellon, Senior Digital Account Manager, NJ Advance Media; Jennifer Clark, Director, Local Retail, NJ Advance Media

First Place - Best Rich Media Creative - RCCA: Innovative Cancer Care Close to Home - Melissa Chin, Senior Creative Consultant, NJ Advance Media; Julie Williams, Senior Account Manager, NJ Advance Media

Second Place - Best Digital House Ad - NJ is Open - Robert Morgia, Marketing Specialist, NJ Advance Media; Jacquelyn Gawron, Marketing Specialist, NJ Advance Media; David Martel, Chief Brand Strategist, NJ Advance Media

Second Place - Best Digital Impact Ad - Home Surplus - Free Kitchen Assembly - Alaa Selim, Senior Creative Consultant, NJ Advance Media; Timothy Drummond, Sales Director, NJ Advance Media; Vesna Day, Digital Account Manager, NJ Advance Media

Second Place - Best Digital Standard Unit Ad - EANJ: Helping Our Employers-Members Keep Their Workplace Safe - Melissa Chin, Senior Creative Consultant, NJ Advance Media; Casey Donnellon, Senior Digital Account Manager, NJ Advance Media; Magda Malinska, Marketing Solutions Manager, NJ Advance Media

Second Place - Best Multi-Media Online & Print Campaign - Black Lives Matter - Angela Perilla, Creative & Marketing Associate, NJ Advance Media; Michele Hayes, Associate VP, Marketing, NJ Advance Media

Second Place - Best Rich Media Creative - Viking Pest Control: This Fall, Keep the Pests Out! - Melissa Chin, Senior Creative Consultant, NJ Advance Media; Kenneth Bramson, Senior Digital Account Manager, NJ Advance Media

Third Place - Best Digital Ad Campaign - Extell Lofts at Pier Village Display Ad Campaign - Alaa Selim, Senior Creative Consultant, NJ Advance Media; Jeff Horn, Director, Sales, Real Estate, NJ Advance Media; Kenneth Bramson, Senior Digital Account Manager, NJ Advance Media

Third Place - Best Digital Impact Ad - First Night Morris - On New Years Eve...Live, Streaming & On-Demand - Melissa Chin, Senior Creative Consultant, NJ Advance Media; Isabella Mest, Director, Direct Marketing, NJ Advance Media

Third Place - Best Rich Media Creative - bcreative digital media: Video Sells! - Alaa Selim, Senior Creative Consultant, NJ Advance Media; Sean ODonnell, Digital Account Manager, NJ Advance Media

Photography:

First Place - Best Portfolio - Tim Hawk - Portfolio

First Place - Feature - Tim Hawk - Surfing Teddy

First Place - Feature Picture Story - Tim Hawk - FlyPups - Every photo in this set was so cute! Great series, but the fifth photo was my absolute favorite.

First Place - General News - Tim Hawk - Focused - Its the eyes that draw the reader into this brilliantly-composed photo by Tim Hawk, which rose to the top of an incredibly-competitive category.

First Place - Pictorial - Tim Hawk - Spooky Blue Moon

First Place - Spot News - Tim Hawk - Atlantic City protest

Second Place - Protest - Tim Hawk - Sign of the times

Second Place - Sports Feature - Lori M. Nichols - Connor ONeill, wrestler

Third Place - Sports Feature - Lori M. Nichols - Lady Herd

Third Place - Sports Feature Picture Story - Lori M. Nichols - Surf Jam

Third Place - Feature Picture Story - Tim Hawk - Red Solo Cup service - This series tells a unique story in a unique time. The fifth photo in the set was my favorite.

Third Place - Pictorial - Lori M. Nichols - The view from the jetty

See more here:
Star-Ledger wins general excellence award, numerous other top honors from state press association - NJ.com

Palm Beach Post

Floridians, your First Amendment right to peacefully protest is under attack. Not by extremist groups, but by our very own Florida Legislature. The vehicle is a bill known as House Bill1 and its Senate companion, Senate Bill 484.

Governor Ron DeSantis announced plans for this bill following the largely peaceful Black Lives Matter protests, which took place throughout the United States and around the world after the brutal murder of George Floyd. Now the legislation has cynically been rebranded as an attempt to address the insurrection that took place at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6,in fact, it was filed that very night.

HB 1 at its core would dilute the rights that this country and this state were founded upon. This legislation includes enhanced criminal penalties for offenses already codified by law. Innocent bystanders caught in a protest gone unruly could find themselves arrested and thrown in jail for the night, their bail eliminated before a first court appearance after their arrest. The state could preempt local government authority when law enforcement budgets are cut, allowing the governor and Florida Cabinet to force local governments to cut other needed local services.

This proposed legislation is completely unnecessary. There are already criminal laws - both state and federal - that address rioting, insurrection, treason, assault, and battery.. In fact, it would chill the exercise of the right to peaceably assemble, made abundantly clear when there is no provision that takes into account the granting of permits authorizing peaceful gatherings. Even more alarming is the granting of an affirmative defense to persons who may deliberately injure innocent protesters that peacefully protest when a gathering is designated a riot under the vague standards of the legislation.

Since the founding of these United States and the establishment of the State of Florida, We, the People, have enjoyed the right to peaceably assemble and the coordinated right to petition the government for redress of grievances. Article I, section 5 of the Florida Constitution provides: The people shall have the right to assemble, to instruct their representatives, and to petition for redress of grievances. This right derives from Amendment I, of the United States Constitution.

The First Amendment specifically provides that Congress cannot make a law that abridges the right of the people to peacefully assemble. Likewise, no state legislature can deprive the people of this basic and fundamental right. This was made clear by the United States Supreme Court in De Jonge v. Oregon, 299 U.S. 353 (1937). Writing for a unanimous Court, Chief Justice Charles Hughes said the state laws that interfere with a groups right to gather and discuss political issues was repugnant to the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. HB 1, like the bill denounced in the De Jonge case, would abridge the right of the citizens of the State of Florida to the free exercise of their right to assemble and petition their government.

HB 1, or as its sponsors have named it, Combatting Public Disorder is not just anti-protest and anti-1st Amendment, it is outright anti-American.

We the People have seen the power of the right to assemble from the days of William Penn to the modern civil rights movements. Abolitionists took to the streets to raise the nations awareness of the evils of slavery. Suffragists used the power of protest to redress the grievance of voter disenfranchisement for a large segment of the population women. Labor activists, religious organizations, LGBTQ communities, and other groups throughout our nation have gathered, with their collective voices, to call for redress of problems that plague our democracy. As a result, Americans of all racial, ethnic, cultural, and religious

backgrounds have peaceably protested and made positive changes. This is the essence of democracy. This is the essence of a government as described by Abraham Lincoln in the Gettysburg Address, [a] government of the people, by the people, for the people.

The Bill of Rights in the U.S.Constitution and the Declaration of Rights in the Florida Constitution form the foundations for this democracy. Each right is a pillar that keeps the house, our democracy, steady. When we tear down one pillar of the house, the foundation begins to shift. The house is then subject to collapse. We must not allow this house, our precious democracy, to fall.

We urge our legislators, both representatives and senators, to reject HB 1 and its Senate companion. By doing so, we preserve the right to peaceably assemble and we preserve a necessary pillar of our democracy.

PEGGY A. QUINCE AND PATRICIA BRIGHAM, ORLANDO

Editor's note:Quinceis a former justice of the Florida Supreme Court and current board director of the League of Women Voters of Florida. Brigham is president of the League of Women Voters of Florida.

Link:
Point of View: Florida's anti-protest bill is actually anti-American - Palm Beach Post