1st Amendment under assault in Trump era: AZ law to criminalize protests that turn violent
2 replies, posted
[IMG]http://cdn.azcapitoltimes.com/files/2017/01/anti-trump-protest-WEB.jpg[/IMG]
[QUOTE]Claiming people are being paid to riot, Republican state senators voted Wednesday to give police new power to arrest anyone who is involved in a peaceful demonstration that may turn bad — even before anything actually happened.
SB1142 expands the state’s racketeering laws, now aimed at organized crime, to also include rioting. And it redefines what constitutes rioting to include actions that result in damage to the property of others.
But the real heart of the legislation is what Democrats say is the guilt by association — and giving the government the right to criminally prosecute and seize the assets of everyone who planned a protest and everyone who participated. And what’s worse, said Sen. Steve Farley, D-Tucson, is that the person who may have broken a window, triggering the claim there was a riot, might actually not be a member of the group but someone from the other side.
Sen. Martin Quezada, D-Phoenix, acknowledged that sometimes what’s planned as a peaceful demonstration can go south.
“When people want to express themselves as a group during a time of turmoil, during a time of controversy, during a time of high emotions, that’s exactly when people gather as a community,’’ he said. “Sometimes they yell, sometimes they scream, sometimes they do go too far.’’
Quezada said, though, that [B]everything that constitutes rioting already is a crime[/B], ranging from assault to criminal damage, and those responsible can be individually prosecuted. He said the purpose of this bill appears to be designed to chill the First Amendment rights of people to decide to demonstrate in the first place for fear something could wrong.
~
[B]Sen. Sylvia Allen, R-Snowflake, said the new criminal laws are necessary.
[/B]
[B]“I have been heartsick with what’s been going on in our country, what young people are being encouraged to do,’’ she said.[/B]
She agreed with Quezada that there already are laws that cover overt acts. But Allen said they don’t work.
“If they get thrown in jail, somebody pays to get them out,’’ she said. “There has to be something to deter them from that.’’
[/QUOTE]
[URL]http://azcapitoltimes.com/news/2017/02/22/arizona-senate-crackdown-on-protests/[/URL]
[url]https://facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1553937[/url]
late
