Quote:The First Amendment is a wonderful thing, but the more I think about it (even over the last few days), the more I begin to understand that certain non-restrictive restrictions on it are, well, needed.

 

Take the college "free speech zones" for example. On principle, I'm completely opposed to the idea. In practicality though, I understand why they make sense. Consider my alma mater, Arizona State. There are 50,000 students on the main campus, which, while big geographically, isn't unbelievably sprawling. There are/were numerous choke points on campus where, at the right time of day, you could see as many as 10,000 people trying to squeeze down the same walkway or through the same courtyard. If a large protest or demonstration were to be set up right there at that particular time, campus would have been a disaster. In fact, it was once, when an activist group set up a large display booth surrounded by 20-foot tall banners and posters in the main area behind the student union building--perhaps the single busiest area on campus. The office of the president received thousands upon thousands of complaints. Most of them were about the content of the display and its inherently charged nature, which bordered on offensive, and he ignored those. Officially, he approved of the displays because they were good for stimulating discussions. Unofficially, he approved the displays because the college's single biggest benefactor was behind the group that put them up, and he didn't want to risk angering the man who wrote more checks to the college than anyone else.

 

While the displays were allowed to return for two more days, they were told to move to a different location on campus, a large courtyard that's a little more out of the way but still sees decent foot traffic. The logic behind it was that the presence of the display had absolutely snarled the busiest point on the entire campus, making it impossible to navigate the area. The organizers of the display, of course, complained that they'd been hidden from view, but logistics won out over principle.

 

Of course, this is all a moot point, because the right of free speech does not extend onto university campuses. Unless, you know, you donate seven figures a year to the school and tell the campus president that he'll be approving your display rather than submitting a formal request.

 

Or for a second example, a thousand bicyclists decide to ride I-95 to work to protest America's dependence on foreign oil. They're exercising their First Amendment rights to free speech and freedom of assembly, but in the process, they're causing huge inconveniences for everyone else on the road. The same concept could be applied to pedestrians blocking traffic on a downtown thoroughfare for a protest of their own. Does their right to freedom of speech and assembly overrule my need to get to work on time so my boss doesn't dock my pay or fire me?

 

In principle, the First Amendment should always apply. In practice, though, I can see how saying "don't put your massive display in the busiest point on campus on a Monday afternoon" or "don't shut down a freeway to prove a point" would be worthwhile. As long as there is a clear, stated purpose for relegating someone to a free speech zone, and as long as that free speech zone gives them reasonably similar visibility to where they would otherwise have set up, I'm ok with the concept. "Move your protest from the steps of city hall to the park across the street because you're blocking foot traffic in and out of the building," is reasonable. "Take your protest from the steps to city hall to that dark alley three blocks away because the mayor is sick of looking at you," is not.

 

 

That's a well thought out post.  I think that protesters need to understand exactly what you just explained.  You do not want to antagonize the public, you want to get them on your side while you're bringing awareness to your point.

 

Blocking off public areas is not the best way to go.  Blocking off and protesting near the power structure is the proper place to protest...  If I was to ever set up a protest, that's what I would do.  I would take it to the locations where the power is located.  Not to where the people are.  Then once at the power location, I'd call the media to get the word out.  You want to inconvenience those in power, not those that you are trying to sway to your point of view.

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