One of the primary tenets of the First Amendment of the US Constitution is the right to “peacefully assemble,” re. the right to protest. It has been an anchor in the right to free speech and has been presented to us as one of the underlying differences between the US and other countries. The fact that we allow our citizens to protest is supposed to be one of the things that make us better than anyone else.
Well, as of Monday, April 15, 2024, you can pretty much toss that one in the can. The Supreme Court of the United States, in its endless bafflement, ruled against the First Amendment in rejecting an appeal from DeRay Mckesson in a case that stems from a 2016 protest over the police killing of a Black man in Baton Rouge. What the court appears to have said is that the person who organizes a protest is responsible for the actions of the people participating in the protest.
There are some caveats. First, Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor warned lower courts to “not read anything” into the decision. In other words, by rejecting this particular case the court does not rule out the possibility that it might take up the full matter at a later date. Second, it is important to realize that in rejecting the case, justices did not hear full arguments on the matter, which would give the matter the weight of precedence in subsequent cases.
However, the decision is still troubling. The decision will most definitely hold some influence over lower courts. Yet another Pandora’s Box has been opened (how many of those damn boxes does Pandora have?).
What’s all the fuss, Gus? Back in 2016 (remember 2016?), a man named DeRay Mckesson organized a protest in Louisiana after police killed a black man in Baton Rouge. During that protest, someone unidentified threw a “rock-like object” and it hit an officer. Since the rock thrower couldn’t be identified, the officer, hiding behind the moniker John Doe, decided to sue Mckesson for not controlling the protest he instigated. The initial federal court threw out the suit, which was, unquestionably in my opinion, the correct decision. However, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 to pick it back up because Mckesson didn’t lead the protest onto the highway, resulting in a standoff with police and the injury to the officer.
If this is going to be the case, someone let that former president know that he is now on the hook for every action taken by protestors on January 6, since he organized that melee. It’s all his fault.
More seriously, though, we have to look at this decision as a warning to anyone who might consider organizing future protests. How the fuck are you supposed to “control” a crowd who is righteously angry? Do you remember what was going on in 2016? We were finally standing up to the fact that people of color were being indiscriminately murdered by police! There was every reason in the world to protest and every reason to exhibit anger as part of those protests.
So, what happens when the Supreme Court does something really stupid like take away the right to gender-affirming care for everyone, not just trans kids in Ohio? Is that topic safe to protest? Can we get everyone on the highway? What happens this fall when Republican Governors mobilize the National Guard because they don’t like the way the elections go? Is that going to be safe to protest? What about when the Supreme Court overturns the January 6 convictions on a technicality? Are we safe to protest that fatality of justice?
The nature of protests is that the more people participating, the more seriously the protest is taken. However, the more people protesting, the more likely it is that someone is going to misbehave, often out of anger at a gross miscarriage of justice and the fear that their opinion is not being heard by those in power. The more government leaders attempt to shut down protests, as they did the Black Lives Matter protests of 2016, the more angry protestors are going to be. If elected leaders aren’t going to pay attention to their constituents through the manners prescribed by law, then protestors are more likely to resort to more extreme manners of communication.
Did we learn nothing in history class?
We need to protect the right to protest. When those we’ve elected to uphold the law take it upon themselves to ignore the law, protest may become the only way we have of solving the problem.
Morning Update
Taking the dogs out early this morning, I’m reminded of the opening words to a 1978 song by Crystal Gale: “Three O’clock in the morning, and it looks like it’s gonna be another sleepless night.” So, it was 4:00, not 3, and I slept earlier in the night, just not now. It’s my own damn fault. I went to bed around 7:30 without taking the dogs out one last time. As a result, Belvedere was standing on my chest and licking my face at 3:45, letting me know that some outside time was absolutely critical. The only upside of this situation is that the cats aren’t yowling for breakfast yet.
Oh, but be sure, Kronk, aka Pinball, and Solaris are right here doing their best to help me type. That’s why I’m going ahead and taking care of the update now. They’re not going to let me go back to sleep just yet. I have coffee that’s helping keep my eyes open. There will, without apology, be an early nap this morning.
My visit to the oncologist yesterday was probably the best I’ve had in a couple of years. All the numbers were where they needed to be. Even my glucose was lower than its been in a year. As long as this trend continues, I’ll be able to go off the chemo in March and won’t need to take any continuing medication for the Leukemia. We’ll still have to check in every once in a while and make sure those white blood cell numbers aren’t going back up, but at this point, we’re rather hopeful that our days of chemo are short-lived. We just have to survive the next few months.
The kids are in full fall break mode. Tipper spent the night, and possibly the weekend, with her friend. G is making final plans to leave for Florida with his friend on Monday. I’d say that I miss them, but the animals are doing a good job of making sure that they keep my attention. Hamilton has been especially needy of late. At least the animals don’t fuss about what we’re having for dinner.
We’re a week out from Helene making landfall. The storm’s death toll has climbed past 225, but many people remain unaccounted for. Despite the fact that the storm dumped 40 trillion gallons of water over the Southeast, clean drinking water is nowhere to be found. The lack of electric power isn’t helping. Of course, one bad turn generates another. Yellow jackets, who normally live in the ground, are swarming since they don’t have any place to rebuild their nests. North Carolina is distributing Benadryl and EpiPens to help deal with the allergic reactions. Helene’s powerful storm surge killed 12 near Tampa. Now, some are asking whether their deaths were preventable. I question the efficacy of second-guessing a storm that was quite determined to do its own thing. The number of deaths is tragic, but we have to realize that storms like Helene are so deadly because they do the unexpected. The next big storm to come along will almost certainly behave differently. Guessing what a storm is going to do is ultimately a fool’s game. The official Atlantic hurricane season ends in November, but with two more storms churning at sea, experts warned it might last into December. Make no bets as to what might happen.
Grumpy weather is a problem elsewhere in the world as well. Death toll in worst Bosnian floods in years rises to 16. The Brazil drought sinks the Amazon rainforest port river level to a 122-year low. Meanwhile, it’s elephants that are at risk from floods in Thailand. This is the new reality. Get used to it.
A reality I’ll never accept quietly, though, is how stupid people are allowed to disrupt life for the rest of us. There are a couple of stories that stick out to me this morning. In the first, the Heritage Foundation, the same people that brought you the insane Project 2025, are harassing NASA with Freedom of Information requests asking for internal emails. A foundation executive told Reuters that this “is part of that organization’s ongoing push to help Trump weed out uncooperative civil servants if he is reelected to the White House in November.” It’s unfathomable to me that these actions are even remotely legal. All the more reason to vote for Democrats up and down the ticket.
In a move that violates the First Amendment clause against religious establishment, Oklahoma’s Superintendent of Schools wants to put Trump Bibles in the classroom. Where this push runs afoul of the law is the intent to use public funds to pay for the books. If it were done with private funds, the move might be legal. Using tax dollars, however, makes it a government establishment of religion, in violation of the First Amendment. Folks out in Oklahoma need to take Ryan Waters to the woodshed.
Oh, but before we forget, you probably should clean the filter in your dishwasher. Today. You’re killing yourself.
When does child abuse end? Apparently never. A 75-year-old mother has been charged with letting her 40-year-old paralyzed daughter lie on the floor for a week after falling out of bed. Reading stories like this makes my head hurt. The fact that this happened here in Indy is downright frightening, partly because I know there are too many people who would respond exactly the same way this mother did. Indy has some mean old people.
Not that the kids are any better. IMPD took three juveniles into custody yesterday after leading police on a high-speed chase following a string of robberies. As shocking as it may be that teenagers are pulling stunts like this, we’re at a point where it seems logical to assume that they’re learning this behavior from the adults, including grandparents, who are around them.
At least there’s football. Although, given the fact that I’m awake so damn early raises questions as to whether I’ll be conscious when this afternoon’s games kick-off. Purdue is at Wisconsin. IU attempts to keep its winning streak alive at Northwestern. Georgia clashes with Auburn. Oklahoma State hosts West Virginia. Tennessee goes on the road to Arkansas. Oklahoma and Texas both have the week off. We’ll see how many of them I spend time watching.
Ugh. One more act of sheer stupidity just popped up. An Idaho state representative told an indigenous candidate to ‘go back where you came from.’ Witnesses at the bipartisan forum describe the Republican representative’s outburst as “a complete meltdown” that scared their children. Seriously, are there no sane people left in the world that we are forced to put up with this level of incivility? Really?
You know, most Saturdays I struggle to find anything newsworthy that isn’t a rehash of what we covered during the week. Why the fuck is there so much nonsense this morning?
We’re looking at a beautiful weekend here in the Midwest. Get out and do something enjoyable if you can. Love your family. Pet your dogs. Feed your cats. Take naps.
Most importantly, don’t forget the coffee.
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