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Protestors' Rights Overview
Freedom of speech, including the right to assemble, petition and protest, is among the core democratic principles that are the hallmarks of our democracy. The Supreme Court has written that this freedom is "the matrix, the indispensable condition of nearly every other form of freedom." However, our nation's commitment to freedom of expression is tested each and every day, especially in times of national stress. As we saw during the weeks following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, those with unpopular political ideas were in some cases censored, reprimanded, suspended or even terminated from their jobs for expressing their political views.
In Miami, a UM lab technician was fired over sarcastic remarks made on September 11th – his 22nd birthday. He said aloud: "Some birthday gift from Osama bin Laden!" He was the second person fired from a job in Miami after expressing critical views of U.S. foreign policy in the way of the September 11th terrorist attacks on America. In October, Michael Italie, a Socialist mayoral candidate in Miami, was fired from his job as a sewing machine worker at Goodwill Industries of South Florida. He was fired after the head of the local Goodwill office learned that Italie was critical of the U.S. military action in Afghanistan and supported the Cuban revolution.
In yet another blow to the First Amendment and the freedom to dissent, University of South Florida president Judy Genshaft fired tenured professor Sami Al-Arian shortly after his Sept. 26th appearance on Fox News Channel's The O'Reilly Factor. The show's report on his ties to terrorists -- allegations he has vehemently denied -- elicited hundreds of angry phone calls to USF and at least a dozen death threats. Citing safety concerns, Genshaft placed Al-Arian on paid leave and banned him from campus. She said she fired him for violating his employment contract by returning to campus after being put on paid leave and for failing to make clear that remarks made in off-campus speeches reflected personal views and not those of the university.
These are examples of people expressing themselves individually in either public or private workplace environments. When people join in rallies and demonstrations that attract thousands of protestors, however, they are even more susceptible to having their rights trampled upon by government – especially in times of national crisis.
For example, in June 2001, police arrested three protesters at a rally in Tampa. The rally took place at Legends Field, a publicly-owned field operated by the New York Yankees under a lease agreement with the government. While most of the rally-goers were there to cheer President Bush, a few protested the outcome of the Florida election and showed support for gay rights.
Police arrested Mauricio Rosas, Janis M. Lentz, and Sonja Haught. The protesters carried signs saying, "Investigate Florida Votergate" and "June is Gay Pride Month." According to the protesters, the crowd yelled at them, pushed them, grabbed their signs, and even threw punches. When security officials saw the disturbance, they told the protesters that if they wanted to stay, they would have to give up their signs. Otherwise, they should leave. The protesters linked their arms and refused to leave, prompting police to charge them with misdemeanor trespassing. Police also charged Haught with disorderly conduct for allegedly slapping a police officer with her open hand.
The fact that the police would allow the protesters to stay if they gave up their signs raises the question of whether police removed the protesters for their behavior, or because of the message on their signs.
The protesters claim that the arrests violated their First Amendment right to freedom of expression. On the other hand, a Secret Service spokesperson claims that the rally was a private function, meaning that the hosts could legally exclude anyone they wanted to, including the protesters. Tickets to the event were publicly available and everyone was required to purchase tickets to enter. The protestors had tickets. Mike Pheneger, a board member of the ACLU of Florida's Tampa chapter and a frequent spokesperson for ACLU, countered that the rally constituted a public function, indeed, because the public was invited, not exclusively Bush-supporters.
On July 28th prosecutors dropped the trespassing charges. There were allegations that a Secret Service agent had pointed out the protesters, targeting them for arrest. In actuality, the man who signaled the police was a Republican Party activist. Since this activist was not the host of the rally, or a Secret Service agent trying to protect the president, he had no legal authority to remove the protesters. Moreover, even prosecutors were concerned that there were possible freedom of speech violations. While the police claimed that they acted professionally and with great restraint in defusing a potentially violent situation, protesters disagree. They claim that the police should have protected them from the crowd, allowing them to continue to exercise their right to free expression.
