PETA Protest in Milwaukee OK'd by City Attorney, ACLU of WI Responds

Yesterday Milwaukee City Attorney Grant Langley recognized the right of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals to demonstrate outside of a Menomonee Valley slaughterhouse, despite the objections of city alderman Bob Donovan. A permit has been issued to the group for this afternoon's demonstration.

“The ACLU is pleased that City Attorney Grant Langley did not cave in to pressure from Alderman Bob Donovan’s attempts to squelch the demonstration," said ACLU of Wisconsin Executive Director Chris Ahmuty. "As the City Attorney correctly observed, the government may impose reasonable limits on the time, place and manner of protests, but may not prohibit them because of their content. In this case, the protesters posed as cuts of meat on platters, with fake blood on their bodies."

More details on the protest's purpose and the controversy can be found in a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article. 

“While people may disagree with PETA’s message and their sometimes controversial tactics, the First Amendment clearly protects just this sort of expressive activity," said Ahmuty. "As the Supreme Court said in United States v. Eichman, even words and expressive conduct that are ‘deeply offensive to many’ are nonetheless protected by the First Amendment."

The Supreme Court said more than 60 years ago in Terminiello v. Chicago that the "function of free speech under our system of government is to invite dispute. It may indeed best serve its high purpose when it induces a condition of unrest, creates dissatisfaction with conditions as they are, or even stirs people to anger. Speech is often provocative and challenging. It may strike at prejudices and preconceptions and have profound unsettling effects... [T]he alternative would lead to standardization of ideas either by legislatures, courts, or dominant political or community groups."

“Alderman Donovan has a right to express his disagreement with PETA and their methods, and he certainly doesn’t have to watch their protest if he finds in unpleasant, but he doesn’t have a right to trample on the Constitution,” said Ahmuty.

ACLU of WI Issues Letter to DOA on Fair Access to Capitol

Today the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin in a letter to Wisconsin Department of Administration Secretary Michael Huebsch insisted that the Secretary ensure fair access to the Capitol. The Department has restricted access to the Capitol by citizens wishing to exercise their rights to free speech and assembly.

ACLU of Wisconsin Executive Director Chris Ahmuty said, "We felt compelled to write the Secretary as his emerging directives impose unwarranted content-based restrictions on those visiting the Capitol Building."

The ACLU's letter reads in part, "Prohibiting protesters on either side of the debate from entering the Capitol during normal business hours or during legislative hearings or sessions, while allowing others with 'business' in the Capitol to enter, is manifestly content-based and, hence presumptively unconstitutional."

Ahmuty, said of the letter, "The ACLU of Wisconsin and its members across Wisconsin want a prompt answer to the concerns and requests in our letter to Secretary Huebsch. The rights of our fellow Wisconsin residents can't be suspended or curtailed for administrative convenience or political posturing."

During the last two weeks the ACLU of Wisconsin and cooperating attorneys have deployed volunteer legal observers at and around the Capitol on a nearly continuous basis to protect the rights of all demonstrators to peacefully protest to distributing "bust cards" to protesters and by monitoring the authorities for violations of rights.

The full letter and ACLU of Wisconsin statement is available on our website. For current information on the conditions at the Wisconsin state Capitol, please follow the ACLU Madison office on Twitter or visit our Twitter page.

Legal Observers Protect Right to Assemble and Speak

As protests have sprung up around Wisconsin this past week, the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin Foundation has organized specially trained, neutral observers to be witnesses to interactions between police and demonstrators. With more protesters on both sides of the public debate over the budget repair bill expected this weekend, the ACLU will continue to have observers monitor the demonstrations and the law enforcement response. The ACLU has also widely distributed information about protesters’ rights and responsibilities by handing out its popular “bust cards” at protests and by posting on internet and social media sites all week.

The ACLU observers, often wearing yellow “ACLU Legal Observer” t-shirts, have received formal training from ACLU staff and volunteer lawyers about protest rights, working with police and documenting observations of police activity. The observers are trained to remain neutral, rather than to participate in protest activity. The presence of legal observers may help defuse confrontations between protestors and police, deter police misconduct and provide evidence for subsequent legal actions.

Stacy Harbaugh, the ACLU of Wisconsin’s Community Advocate, said, “Our legal observers have been present throughout the protests in Madison and elsewhere in the state this week. We are working with volunteer lawyers to deal with any trouble spots that may arise. Thus far, the protests have been largely peaceful and the various law enforcement agencies have handled the demonstrations well. We hope that trend continues, both here and around the state.” Harbaugh also encouraged people who witness arrests or other police action to help in the monitoring effort by contacting the ACLU or the Hawks-Quindel law firm at (608) 257-0040. Special thanks to all of the volunteers and attorneys who have helped thus far.

For live tweets from the Capitol on the rights of protesters, please follow @ACLUMadison.

Protest rights: Top 5 Things To Know During Demonstrations

On Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, the ACLU of Wisconsin Foundation sent volunteer legal observers to witness the large-scale protests in Madison and Milwaukee. In Madison the protests have gone largely without incident and with full cooperation between law enforcement and activists despite the estimated 10,000+ demonstrators picketing inside and outside the Capitol each day.

The ACLU of Wisconsin Foundation would like to affirm the rights of protesters to peaceably assemble. As the demonstrations continue this week, we want to remind activists about the top five things to remember when demonstrating:

1. Signs with sticks are not allowed in the Capitol building for safety reasons. Paper signs are allowed.

2. Peaceful demonstrations are allowed, so long as they don't violate other people's rights. However ignoring police orders is not allowed. The police may not shut down a demonstration entirely, but may put reasonable limits on the time, place and manner of a protest. If police issue orders to protesters to leave an area or to otherwise conform to announced rules, protesters who ignore orders could be subject to citation or arrest.

3. Be a good observer. Document any problems at demonstrations with notes (time, location, details) and especially with cameras. The National Lawyers’ Guild has a guide for trained legal observers that is an excellent resource on how to document protests (PDF).

4. An individual under arrest should say nothing to law enforcement without their attorney present. Please see the ACLU of Wisconsin Guide for Demonstrators (PDF) for more details on what Constitutionally protected activity. Criminal behavior is not protected by the First Amendment. For more information on interacting with law enforcement, please see our bust cards for Milwaukee (PDF) and Madison (PDF).

5. Protests in public spaces like sidewalks and in the Capitol within a reasonable time, place and manner are allowed. In general, protesters have the most rights in outdoor public spaces like public sidewalks and the Capitol grounds. As long as the protest is peaceful and does not block traffic, most protest activities are allowed in such spaces. Inside buildings like the Capitol, however, authorities may impose more limits to ensure that government functions are not interrupted.

As protests continue, we remind everyone to take care of themselves, cooperate and continue to exercise their free speech rights without problems or incidents.

UW Milwaukee Police Conduct Report Leaves Unanswered Questions, Says ACLU of WI

On March 4th, students at the UW-Milwaukee campus gathered to rally over the increase of tuition rates. When they took their message to the University's administration building, police and protesters had a confrontation and students were arrested and ticketed.

We blogged about the incident this spring and we said that an investigation was needed to review the use of force by campus police against protesters. However, the partial release of a report on police conduct by law enforcement experts and the Vice Chancellor leaves questions unanswered.

“The American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin is concerned that the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee may be missing an opportunity to improve the UWM Police Department’s response to free speech activities, including demonstrations, on campus," said Executive Director Chris Ahmuty. "The two-page executive summary of an independent review panel’s report has indicated several deficiencies in terms of planning, training, equipment and tactics. Vice Chancellor Christy L. Brown’s memorandum responding to the report focuses on the prevention of “civil unrest” and absolves, and even praises, the police for their conduct, while endorsing the recommendations in the review panel."

Ahmuty went on to explain that Vice Chancellor Brown’s response to the review panel’s report is inconsistent with the report’s executive summary. What is even more troubling is that both documents fail to suggest ways to facilitate peaceful protest. The apparent mindset of the panel and Vice Chancellor is all about control and the exercise of police authority. The ACLU had hoped that this report would recognize that the vast majority of demonstrators were peacefully exercising their rights to free speech. Because of the deficiencies indicated in the report and poor decisions by UWMPD officers and their superiors during the demonstration the UWMPD did not handle the situation as well as it might have.

“We recognize that officers have a great deal of responsibility and work in often difficult circumstances," said Ahmuty. "Difficult circumstances do not diminish their responsibility to use constitutional methods. Therefore, the ACLU of Wisconsin is seeking additional information on some of the review panel’s recommendations. For instance, we are disappointed that there is a recommendation that officers receive formal training in crowd control tactics and operations, without explicitly including training on the rights of demonstrators in groups."

Hopefully this report will not be shelved as an end of dialogue on campus over how police respond to demonstrations. Constitutionally protected activity needs a trained and measured law enforcement response that protects rather than chills free speech.

This issue has had some coverage in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

ACLU Legal Observers: Witnessing History

On May 1st, 2010, supporters of the rights of immigrants and workers took to the streets in cities across the United States in support of comprehensive immigration reform and repealing Arizona's new racial profiling law. At the large marches in Milwaukee and Madison, ACLU volunteers were wearing bright yellow t-shirts that said "Legal Observer" or "Observador Legal" and handed out information on the rights of protesters.

ACLU of Wisconsin Foundation's legal observers are volunteers who are witnesses of First Amendment rights at protests. After training new legal observers on the rights of demonstrators and how to be effective and efficient witnesses, volunteers go out into the field to monitor protests from start to finish.

In Milwaukee on May Day, march organizers said that over 35,000 people took part in the massive protest. With a large team of volunteer legal observers, the ACLU of Wisconsin Foundation was able to distribute around 10,000 "Know Your Rights with Law Enforcement" brochures with information for participants about their right to protest and how to deal with police encounters.

Observers did not witness any civil liberties violations, but at one point a fire raged in a dumpster near the starting point of the march. Legal observers helped organizers steer the crowd to safety while Milwaukee District 2 Officer Robert Velez acted bravely and quickly to move the flaming dumpster away from the building to prevent a larger fire from spreading.

In Madison, legal observers marched with the May Day crowd from Brittingham Park to the Capitol. Madison Police did an excellent job rerouting traffic down W. Washington and the crowd was orderly as it marched past downtown businesses, houses with Mifflin Street revelers, and into the Farmers Market on the square. No arrests were reported.

In order to document potential violations of constitutionally protected free speech, each legal observer carries their trusty notepads, cameras, cell phones or video cameras. By remaining politically neutral during these events, we guarantee the rights of ALL to assemble and express themselves – regardless of their opinions. From hometown meetings to Tea Party rallies, immigration protests, tuition protests and sit-ins over workplace bias, the ACLU of Wisconsin Foundation volunteers are watching, educating and advocating.

Worried you're not qualified? Legal observers in Wisconsin are of all faiths, ages and races and have volunteered on foot, bicycle, car and wheelchair. Previous experience? Students, teachers, parents, children, artists, mechanics, lawyers, laborers, musicians, waitresses, businesspeople and retirees are all welcome. So if you have a desire to protect our freedoms and see history being made as you go, contact us.

Protest-Police Confrontation at UW MKE Needs Public Investigation

On Thursday, March 4th, a protest of students against the administration of the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee led to a confrontation between protesters and police. Police used pepper spray against protesters and sixteen people were arrested or detained. Police said most would be charged with disorderly conduct or obstruction of justice.

ACLU Reaction
The ACLU of Wisconsin issued a statement calling for an investigation of police conduct during the incident and was quoted in today's UWM Post article. In the statement, Executive Director Chris Ahmuty expressed dismay at the reports about the confrontation between demonstrators and the University and Milwaukee police officers. He said on Thursday that while it was unclear if laws were broken by police or students, it was clear that the confrontation following an unsuccessful attempt by some demonstrators to forcibly enter the Chancellor’s office included the police using pepper spray, apparently confiscating cell phones with cameras, and detaining and arresting demonstrators who may have been simply exercising their right to free speech and freedom of assembly.

"The apparent decision of the police to treat the demonstration as an unlawful assembly or disorderly conduct needs review,” said Ahmuty. “Demonstrators who were arrested or ticketed deserve a fair review of their cases, so that any who were within their rights are not forced to go to court." Ahmuty also said that the ACLU of Wisconsin would consider representing students who were unjustly arrested or ticketed.

“In addition, the ACLU of Wisconsin calls upon Chancellor Santiago to conduct a review of the incident to assess how well the University’s policies and procedures protect First Amendment rights as well as campus safety," said Ahmuty. "Such a review must be independent from the University Police and must be transparent. The results must be made public.”

Media Coverage
There is a lot of footage of the protest on YouTube as well as the posted footage from the camera of the student journalist who was arrested.

The UWM Post had a story and video coverage of the rally as well as interviews with police after the confrontation. The situation also got coverage in the UW Badger Herald, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, TMJ4 with video of police conduct and another TMJ4 site with raw footage of the protest and arrests, WITI FOX-6 with video, CBS-58 with video and WISN-TV. The Students for a Democratic Society, one of the organizers of the event, also issued a statement after the protest.

Legal Observer Training: April 3, Madison

This free workshop is for anyone who wants to defend free speech and assembly by becoming a volunteer legal observer for the ACLU of Wisconsin. The workshop will be offered to prepare volunteers for protests in Madison this spring (antiwar, 4/4; workers rights, 5/1). Bilingual (English/Spanish) volunteers are especially encouraged to get involved.

Friday, April 3rd – 5:00 – 7:00 pm

UW Madison Student Activity Center
4th floor Caucus Room
333 E Campus Mall

RSVP to sharbaugh@aclu-wi.org or call (608) 469-5540 if you plan on attending the workshop. Please forward this announcement to friends who are also interested in supporting everyone’s right (even if not always the content) to free speech, assembly and protest.

For more on the ACLU of Wisconsin’s legal observer program and for pictures of observers in action, visit the Cap City Liberty blog reports on legal observers in Milwaukee and at last year’s antiwar protest in Madison.

What are Legal Observers?
Legal Observers are trained volunteers who are legal witnesses to political demonstrations and who document the events of public protests, including any incidents of police misconduct or violations of the rights of protesters. Legal Observers are committed to defending free speech in a way that is as objective as possible so that their documentation can be used as evidence if police misconduct or obstructions to Constitutionally-protected free speech are challenged in court. As Legal Observers, volunteers can commit to being among others who are free speech defenders, but aren’t expected to be a every rally – volunteers pick which protests to observe with neutrality and can choose not to volunteer at protests where they wish to be participants.

Legal observers document large Milwaukee protest

On the afternoon of Tuesday, January 6th, five volunteers and staff from the ACLU of Wisconsin stood in the Milwaukee rain and slush making certain that the approximately 230 protesters who had gathered to protest Israel’s actions in Gaza were able to exercise their Constitutionally-guaranteed freedoms of speech and assembly.

Milwaukee protest, 1/6/09
ACLU legal observers document protesters' rights
Legal Observers work as non-partisan legal witnesses at protests, demonstrations, elections and other events to apprise people of their rights and record any unusual or unlawful actions perpetrated by law enforcement.

ACLU volunteer makes notes about protest details
“We’re not here to make any judgment regarding the opinions of the protesters: we’re here making sure they can exercise their right to protest”, said Emilio De Torre, Youth and Program Director for the ACLU of WI. “You can see us all around the state. We’re the ones with the bright yellow shirts that say “legal observers” and the tattoos that say, “attorney work product”.

Emilio coordinates legal observation with a volunteer
For more information about how to become a non-partisan legal observer, contact Emilio in the Milwaukee office or Stacy in Madison.

Madison's police cameras, terror watch list failures, DNC/RNC protests and more

News roundup!

Domestic Spying
More evidence that casting a wider net to spy on or track Americans doesn’t work – the terror watch list has become so big and poorly maintained that it is rife with search problems. Check out this editorial from the NYT on why the watch list is failing both our privacy and our security. Whether the databases work or not, the watch list frenzy will snag all kinds of people, even would-be gun owners.

In related news, here’s a good story about evolving technology use and ethics with police work. It looks at Madison/Dane County cameras and microphones in squad cars and how they can be both a benefit to protecting both officers and civilians from abuse (when they are actually turned on) and also underscores the need for everyone to know that you don’t have to be read your Miranda rights for anything you say to be possibly used against you in court.


Protest Rights
An article in The Nation illustrates the motivations behind many of the protesters who are demonstrating at the DNC and at the RNC. Check back with CapCityLiberty for updates on our legal observation support at the RNC next week.


Reproductive Rights
A St. Petersburg Times opinion writer who was also a former head of two ACLU affiliates wrote a good editorial about what is at stake for Roe v. Wade in the next election.


Voting Rights
A recent New York Times article details the slowdown on federal certification for electronic voting machines and includes information on how the national trend impacts Wisconsin.


Misc.
If you haven’t heard the news already, Air America radio talk show host Rachel Maddow will make a big move to MSNBC. She’s slated to be the featured guest at the ACLU of Wisconsin’s annual Bill of Rights dinner event in February 2009.p

Big Brother, Oh Brother!

Lots of news in the domestic spying world...

The US Justice Department has issued a proposal for new rules on domestic spying that would roll back privacy and oversight provisions put in place after Watergate. This “track ‘em all – just in case” system includes data fusion centers in which intelligence about citizens would be stored in databases shared among law enforcement agencies across jurisdiction lines.

According to this McClatchy release on the proposed regs, “Michael German, a former veteran FBI agent who is now policy counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union, said if Mukasey moves ahead with the new rules as he describes them, he'll be weakening restrictions originally put in place after the Watergate scandal to rein in the FBI's domestic Counter Intelligence Program, or COINTELPRO. At the time, the FBI spied on American political leaders and organizations deemed to be subversive throughout the late 1950s and into the 1960s.”

The concerns about data fusion centers are at the heart of the treatment of protesters at the Democratic National Convention in Denver where peaceful protesters can be lumped together with “terrorists.” In a recent column, Amy Goodman writes about the overbroad definitions of suspicious activity which can land non-violent protesters in federal databases.

Goodman’s column also expressed concern with the literal “caging of dissent” in which arrestees will be taken to a large, temporary detainment facility without bathrooms or running water. The ACLU of Colorado is involved in talks with city law enforcement about attorney access and conditions of detainees.

CapCityLiberty has been sharing information about searches of electronics at the border, but now with the advent of the passport-light card with the radio frequency chip, citizens crossing back and forth into Canada or Mexico will have their travels recorded in a database for up to 15 years.

These data fusion centers are worse than watch lists – and event the watch lists are snagging children now. Here's a recent action alert from the national ACLU:

Why is 7-year-old John Anderson from Minneapolis on the national Terrorist Watch List?


1. He pushed Tommy too hard on the playground.

2. His July 4th birthday means he distracts other Americans from celebrating their country.

3. John didn’t pick up the blocks during playtime.

The truth is that we don’t know how he got on the Terrorist Watch List. Or if he can get off it. It took an Act of Congress to get Nelson Mandela, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, off the list.

This ever-growing and ineffective Watch List demonstrates what's wrong with the U.S. government’s current approach to security: it’s unfair and a waste of resources. And when our government wastes time and money like this, we are all put in more danger -- not less.

Take our national security quiz to learn about other frightening national security “tools.”

The questions above might be light hearted, but the problems Americans face everyday due to overzealous security measures are real.

According to USA Today:
John Anderson of Minneapolis, [now 7] was first stopped at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport in 2004, when his family took him for his first airplane ride to Disney World. "We checked in at the ticket counter, and the woman said in a stern voice, 'Who is John Anderson?' " says his mother, Christine Anderson. "I pointed to my stroller."

Her son is allowed to fly. But because his name is flagged, his family cannot print out a boarding pass for him online and he must check in at the ticket counter so an airline official can see that he's a child.

Take Action!
To find out more about how to fight the "bigger monster with weaker chains" of government surveillance, come to the statewide ACLU of Wisconsin 2008 Activist Conference (Saturday, September 27, Monona Terrace in Madison) where we will feature the ACLU's national expert on domestic spying, Barry Steinhardt. Registration is $30 for members, $10 for students and NEW members can get in the conference and get a new membership for $50. For more information, contact the Madison Area Office at (608) 469-5540.