Left Field
The Bell Tolls For Civil Rights
In the June issue,
I talked about growing threats to our American right to
peaceful protest, especially on public-health issues. The threat is like a
sound growing louder in the American air -- the sound of a funeral bell
tolling.
Some people were offended that I chose the sentencing of the ACT-UP San
Francisco 3 as an example of how punishing protesters is destroying legal
civil disobedience in the U.S. "Inappropriate" was how one person termed my
choice. So let me try again.
This issue is not about whether you and I approve, or disapprove, of some
individual organization whose activist MO is controversial. This is a deadly
trend that can hurt all protesters, no matter what their MO or their politics
are. Liberals, leftists, and feminists who rejoiced that the feds started
using RICO to prosecute violent anti-abortion activists are stunned at seeing
RICO used against their own nonviolent causes. RICO -- a federal law created
for legitimate use against organized crime, by outlawing interstate
conspiracy to commit a crime -- is now a monster that has been loosed on
civil libertarians. D.A.s and prosecutors are using RICO in a variety of
creative ways -- against demonstrators arrested during Democratic and
Republican conventions, as well as against environmentalists, farm workers,
immigrants, gays and lesbians, and union organizers. In a word, any activist
group that makes a cell phone call across state lines in planning their
protest can now be treated like any mobster or drug lord, and slammed with
RICO charges.
By the way, some people might be offended that I think righties should have
the same right to nonviolent protest as lefties. Well, I do. Much as I loathe
Fred Phelps and his family, who started picketing funerals of gay men who
died of AIDS, it's a fact of American democracy that Phelp's protests can't
be legally silenced without silencing the rest of us too.
I have collected a big file of cases covering the last ten years. Under many
state penal codes, criminal trespass is a handy charge. This class A
misdemeanor can get you up to a year behind bars and a hefty fine. In some
cases, protesters are accused of trespass even when they're standing on
public property. When coupled with creative felony charges, like "felony
conspiracy to commit criminal trespass" ("conspiracy" can be the RICO spin),
authorities can send you away for a few years.
Recently at the Illinois state capitol, when the 85 Percent Coalition
protested Republican obstruction of HB 101 (the anti-discrimination bill),
six protesters were arrested. In addition to the usual criminal trespass, the
state's attorney charged one protester, Mayra Burke, with a class A felony of
"contributing to the criminal delinquency of a juvenile." Why? Because she
had brought a fifteen-year-old to the state capitol to participate in the
protest, and the fifteen-year-old had been arrested. Clever attorney. If the
charges stick, Burke won't be seen on a picket line for a few years.
Another chilling case is that of Rep. Luis Gutierrez. Recently he was
arrested along with several other prominent protesters at a demonstration at
the Navy bombing range in Vieques, Puerto Rico. A rising tide of Puerto Rican
protest is demanding that the Navy stop using the range, after an errant bomb
killed a civilian. A legislator with a fiery social conscience, Gutierrez had
gone to Puerto Rico to lend support. According to Gutierrez, he was beaten by
Navy security and kept in handcuffs for twenty-four hours. Other
Congresspeople, outraged at his treatment, lodged a complaint with Attorney
General Ashcroft, who promised to investigate. After initial reports, there's
been a major media blackout on this disgraceful episode -- and on the
investigation, if there is one. As I write this, Gutierrez's trial and
sentencing are coming up but ignored by news media.
If Congresspeople are treated like this, there isn't much hope for the rest
of us.
When it comes to health-related protest, no one is respected, not even
disabled people. In February 2000, Texas cops thought nothing of dragging
nine disabled people out of their wheelchairs and handcuffing them, during a
demonstration in front of (then) Governor Bush's mansion. The protesters were
incensed at Bush's belief that disabled people should be mandated into
institutions rather than be allowed to live at home. The nine were sentenced
to jail time. This kind of callousness toward the disabled also sparked
nationwide picketing of Greyhound to demand more accessible buses -- and it
produced more arrests.
In other words, the people who don't like ACT-UP San Francisco may someday
find themselves facing the same tactics that were used to prosecute the ACT-UP 3.
They may be out on the streets protesting something that they feel
strongly about ... like more money for their AIDS programs. And they may
suddenly find themselves en route to a year in jail for criminal trespass, or
a few years in state prison on some imaginative RICO charge. Maybe the shoe
will feel different when it's on the other foot.
But I'm glad to report there was positive feedback to my column. People asked
me, "What can I do to stop this?" We can start by paying attention to local
and state news, and noting treatment of protesters. Speak to your local ACLU,
your local lawyers group, your state bar association. Write, fax, or e-mail
your local district attorney or state's attorney, and express your concern at
overly punitive laws and sentencing. Lobby your state legislators and
Congresspeople too. All these people are elected officials, so they must bow
to public pressure -- but only if there is enough outrage.
Meanwhile, when you see the next round of protesters arrested on the evening
news, don't ask for whom the bell tolls. As the English poem says, "It tolls
for you." For all of us.
Patricia Nell Warren writes provocative commentary for many gay and
mainstream publications. Her latest novel is "The Wild Man." Her editorials
are archived at wildcatpress.com. She can be reached at:
patriciawarren@aol.com.
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By Patricia Nell Warren
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