In the weeks and months before the Republican National Convention in St. Paul in 2008, the media painted a scary picture of the planned protests. Anarchists and other dangerous types would be flocking to St. Paul to create trouble! shouted the papers and the TV news. Police upped the ante by making incendiary statements about the possibility of violence, and the city cited the possibility of suicide bombers to deny demonstration organizers their desired march routes. That negative publicity, combined with the heavy, militarized police presence leading up to the convention surely dissuaded many who would have liked to be in the streets to voice their dissent. To organizers, it seemed like a coordinated P.R. campaign to marginalize the protests. A similar dynamic played out in Denver in the run-up to the Democratic Convention.
But who were these dissenters? Were they as 'marginal' as police and the media portrayed them? Political scientists from several universities studied the crowds and published the findings in the CURA Reporter (Center for Urban and Regional Affairs at the University of Minnesota). Not surprisingly, they found that law enforcement and the media had projected a very inaccurate picture of the protestors. In fact, their research showed that protestors at both conventions were middle class, college-educated and came mostly from the local communities. And, in fact, the masses had not come to foment violent revolution: protestors told researchers that they had faith in our political system and form of government. "This combination of trust in the system in general but dissatisfaction with specific policies or outcomes is a potent force that compels some to engage in unconventional forms of participation such as protesting, but to do so in a way that has the potential to be constructive, not violent or disruptive."
It was a clever stunt: a group of activists called Yes Men staged a mock press conference pretending they were representatives of the Chamber of Commerce, announcing that the Chamber would end its opposition to strong climate change legislation. Although it was quickly revealed as a hoax, the Chamber was not amused. They demanded that footage of the 'press conference' be taken from the group's website because it displayed the Chamber's trademark, and they have SLAPPed (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) the Yes Men with a meritless lawsuit claiming trademark infringement. The Electronic Frontier Foundation and Davis Wright Tremain, LLP, representing the activists, have filed a motion to dismiss, arguing that the Chamber's suit was designed to punish core political speech, rather than to vindicate any actual trademark harm. "U.S. courts have long recognized that trademark rights do not include the right to control language and silence critics," said EFF Senior Staff Attorney Corynne McSherry, "This political parody was clearly protected by fair use and the First Amendment."
Take Action!
We've covered the issue of SLAPPs before, and now I'm happy to report that we have an action step you can take to fight SLAPPS: Representative. Steve Cohen (D-TN) has introduced the Citizen Participation Act of 2009 (HR 4364). The bill was introduced last month, just before the House went on recess and as yet has no co-sponsors (but we'll change that!).
Click
here to send an email to your Rep
Or
Call and ask your Representative to co-sponsor HR 4364. Reach your Representative
via the Capitol Hill Switchboard: 202-224-3121
Talking points:
- SLAPPs (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) are a pernicious threat to the constitutional rights of petition and free speech. Such lawsuits, brought not to vindicate legal rights but to harass, intimidate and silence those that engage in petition or expression on matters of public interest must not be allowed to interfere with First Amendment rights.
- There is only limited protection for federal claims in federal court against SLAPPs, and many states lack any SLAPP protection at all. I urge you to co-sponsor HR 4364, the Citizen Participation in Government and Society Act of 2009.
- Representatives who are interested in co-sponsoring should contact David Greengrass in Rep. Steve Cohen's office at 202-225-3264.
Environmental activists in Indiana dreamed up a clever civil disobedience action to protest the building of a superhighway: they 'evicted' the company building the highway from their project office by removing the furniture and staging a sit in. The activists also staged sit-ins in trees, and blocked the entrance in front of one construction site. Two of the activists, Hugh Ferrell and Gina Wertz, have been arrested and charged under RICO. The charges were drafted in a way that turned these misdemeanors into felony racketeering, with charges of conspiracy and theft; by sitting in trees they deprived the owners of the value of the tree. The charges carry a maximum sentence of eight years. Read More…
QUIZ: Protests are "Low Level Terrorism"
The question, "Which of the following is an example of low-level terrorism activity?" and your choices are:
o Attacking the Pentagon
o IEDs
o Hate crimes against racial groups
o Protests
