I went to some palestine protests a while back, and was talking to my brother about the organizing, when revealed something I found pretty shocking, we (the protesters) had acquired a permit to hold the protest. Apparently this is standard policy across the US.
More recently, my University is also having protests, and in their policy, they also require explicit approval for what they call “expressive activity”. I’m pretty sure not having a permit has been used as an excuse to arrest students in some other campuses.
My question is as the title, doesn’t this fundamentally contradict the US’s ideals of free speech? What kind of right needs an extra permit to exercise it?
When I was talking to my brother, he also expressed a couple more points:
- The city will pretty much grant all permits, so it’s more of a polite agreement in most cases
- If we can get a permit (which we did) why shouldn’t we?
I’m assuming this is because of legal reasons, they pretty much have to grant all permits.
Except I think this makes it all worse. If the government grants almost all permits, then the few rare times it doesn’t:
- The protest is instantly de-legitimized due to not having a permit
- There’s little legal precedent for the protesters to challenge this
And then of course there’s the usual slippery slope argument. You’re giving the government a tool they could expand later to oppress you further. Maybe they start with the groups most people don’t like and go up from there.
Yes, and they have to, because of your free speech.
No, it is meant for serious. If there are cases where they don’t give a permit, they need to have very serious reason.
But there is more: you asking for the permit is important in itself, so the administration can take the needed action for public order, e.g traffic regulation etc. So you have to tell them where you want to do it and how many people you expect to participate.
And when you want to demonstrate about controversial topics, they have to send even more police there for your safety. At least in my country that is legally required. The police helps to protect your right of free speech.
I don’t know why you think so. That would be a state without free speech then.
I trust this all even less now.
This is pretty much it.
The city knows about your protest so they can plan accordingly.
They may also make requests of your protest, eg, could you self organise your own traffic wardens to ensure the safety of everyone involved.
Exactly! Peaceful protests are allowed and encouraged. Demonstrations, speeches, picket signs, marches, sit-ins, etc.
Riots on the other hand are a problem. Burning cars, breaking windows, stealing from unrelated businesses, hurting people, etc.
You can inform the city without requiring approval.
I don’t know which country you live in but I can’t recall a single protest in the US where the police have protected the protestors from others
They protect white supremacists all the time.
I haven’t really followed most protests in a while, but I do recall more than a few occasions where there was a particularly hot-button issue being protested by two separate groups in close proximity and the police were there solely to keep the different protesting groups away from each other. I seem to remember that they (the protesting groups) had gotten a bit rowdy but that not much came of it.
The riot squads committing war crimes against civilians stick out in part because of the brutality but also because of the relative rarity of it.