The Occupy Movement and Your Constitutional Right to Protest

Peaceable assembly. What rights do US citizens have? Can we occupy our parks, open areas and other public areas that we pay for and support.

FromWikipedia

"The right to protest is a perceived human right arising out of a number of recognized human rights. While no human rights instrument or national constitution grants the absolute right to protest, such a right to protest may be a manifestation of the right to freedom of assembly, the right to freedom of association, and the right to freedom of speech.^[1]

Many international treaties contain clear enunciations of these rights. Such agreements include the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights, especially Articles 9 to 11; and the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, especially Articles 18 to 22. However, in these and other agreements the rights of Freedom of assembly, freedom of association, and freedom of speech are subject to certain limitations. For example, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights contains prohibitions on advocacy of "national, racial or religious hatred"; and it allows the restriction of the freedom to assembly if it is necessary "in a democratic society in the interests of national security or public safety, public order, the protection of public health or morals or the protection of the rights and freedoms of others." (Articles 20 and 21.)

Protesting, however, is not necessarily violent or a threat to the interests of national security or public safety. Nor is it necessarily civil disobedience, because most protest does not involve violating the laws of the state. Protests, even campaigns of nonviolent resistance or civil resistance, can often have the character (in addition to using nonviolent methods) of positively supporting a democratic and constitutional order. This can happen, for example, when such resistance arises in response to a military coup d'état;^[2] or in the somewhat similar case of a refusal of the state leadership to surrender office following defeat in an election."

While the right to protest is not specifically enumerated in the US Constitution, it appears to fall under the right to freely assemble and the right of free speech.

My favorite to the SunTimes this week went:

Let's see, we can occupy Afghanistan (for opium), we can occupy Iraq (for oil), we can even now occupy Libya (for more oil), but we can't occupy our own parks and public spaces for the purpose of protesting incredible tuition hikes, massive unemployment, shipping jobs overseas, etc.

And the news media (which I guess belongs to the 1%) keeps on saying the protesters are disorganized and have no agenda. What's up with that?

Take a look at http://boingboing.net/2011/11/18/police-pepper-spraying-arrest.html

you will not believe 1) how peaceful protesting students were pepper sprayed like bugs and 2) how the crowd chanted "shame on you", surrounded the officers peacefully (despite the fact they were carrying guns, tear gas rifles and batons) and moved the POLICE out of the area by chanting "you can go" repeatedly.

While mayors around the world will be watching this on how to prevent such protests, students can learn how to conduct a peaceful, effective protest.

This is all over the internet. The news media cannot shut down what millions of people have already viewed, over and over. The truth is that the protests have great meaning, they are done in peace, and they are amazingly effective.