The American Civil Liberties Union‘s (ACLU) stated mission is protection of constitutional rights of all citizens of the United States. The OWS protesters are being arrested, reporters are being arrested, reporters are being barred from covering the area, first amendment rights are being trampled upon, but the ACLU is nowhere to be seen.
Public parks are there for use by the public, the government cannot dictate how taxpayers can use the park as long as they are not breaking laws, and that does not mean that the government can make new laws as they see fit to intentionally circumvent the constitution of the United States of America.
New curfew laws, laws against protest, laws against gathering, and other attempts by municipal government and state governments are unconstitutional on their face. Not only should they not be followed, but when arrested the persons who are arrested should file civil lawsuit against the municipality for false arrest and imprisonment.
If lawsuits and challenges were swiftly pressed against the governments who are acting to enact a police state and oppress the protests, courts could be called upon to take action against the government itself. It has already been seen in multiple jurisdictions that judges are not nearly as corrupted by the monetary influences seen in the other branches of the government, and can be relied upon to make fair decisions in many cases.
It only takes one federal standing precedent to challenge the laws in all jurisdictions, and prevent much of the illegal attempts at oppression from being enacted.
The people writing and passing these laws know, or should know, that they violate the constitution, however, they also believe that the cost of challenging the laws will be so great that it will not matter.
We all have the right to freedom of speech and protest, granted to us by the first amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America. No law passed on the local, state, or federal level can take away this right without first amending the constitution of the United States. It grants the explicit right to peacefully assemble on public grounds, and protest, and cannot be infringed or limited by any law passed on any other level.
The police who are caught on tape committing assaults against citizens should be sued. The municipal districts, cities and states who are attempting to circumvent the constitution should be held to account and the ACLU is the organization, who states it is their national goal.
Where is the ACLU? I’ve seen event after event after event that the ACLU could choose to make an example case, but they stand idly on the sideline doing nothing. They protect the first amendment rights of reprehensible people at times, but in a case with a noble cause, they are nowhere to be found.
I’m unsure if the lack of concern for the rights of the people has to do with where their financial contributions come from, but it is difficult to not wonder if the ACLU does not take up the cause of protection of these protesters because they believe that it would reduce donations from groups related to the investment industry.
Contact your local ACLU, and the national chapter. Ask them why they are sitting idly by while the constitutional rights of citizens to protest and assemble are being violated.
This is a moment in history where the ACLU could do something great for this country, however, without pressure they’ll sit by, because their funding comes from those who the protests are against
They, like many others, will not bite the hand that feeds them, unless they believe that the cost of inaction outweighs the cost of action.
The national ACLU can be found at http://www.aclu.org, and many state chapters exist, search for your state and ACLU and you’ll likely find local chapters.
Let them know that it is noticed that they’re ignoring the entire violation of civil rights taking place.
