ACLU of WI Supports Citizens’ Right to Silently Dissent and Document Government Activity in Galleries
The citations issued during this legislative session by law enforcement to protesters holding signs and videotaping events at the Capitol represent another chapter in an almost year-long story of the suppression of citizens’ access to government and the right to free expression and assembly.
ACLU of Wisconsin on rights of assembly, cameras:
“The arrests of peaceful demonstrators in Capitol hearing rooms and galleries bring public attention to the ongoing abuses of power in our state government,” said ACLU of Wisconsin Executive Director Christopher Ahmuty. “And while rules against flash photography and other disruptions may be sensible, the authorities have turned an interpretation of rules into a tool to suppress individuals’ rights to videotape and document our government’s activities. Whether people are videotaping a hearing or documenting arrests by police, a ban on non-disruptive video and camera use makes no sense in the 21st century.”
“There is no doubt the legislature has a legitimate interest in conducting its business efficiently,” said ACLU of Wisconsin Legal Director Larry Dupuis, “but the Constitution demands that First Amendment activity receives the highest degree of protection. It is hard to see how a ban on silently holding signs or peacefully recording activity in Capitol galleries or hearing rooms is necessary to the efficient operation of the legislature. The mere fact that legislators find criticism and transparency inconvenient does not justify the suppression of speech and the gathering of information by Wisconsinites.”
Dupuis said that our country and the State of Wisconsin have always been committed to protecting political dissent to the greatest possible extent. He points to the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Terminiello v. Chicago which stated that “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.’”
Media coverage of protests:
Read more about the murky camera rules in Dee Hall’s article in the Wisconsin State Journal in which she refers to the arrest of Progressive Magazine editor Matt Rothschild (video below – spot the ACLU of Wisconsin legal observer volunteer documenting Capitol arrests with journalists and bloggers)
Videos of the gallery conflict and Assembly floor debate on free speech that happened on Tuesday, October 25 which were posted to the Dane 101 news blog.
Chris Rickert wrote a column for the State Journal where he outlined a brief history of the gallery rules. He wrote that “the state law banning photo-taking and recording ‘in a manner that interferes with the conduct of the meeting or the rights of the participants’ goes back to 1977. Assembly rules banning the use of cell phones and, in certain cases, microphones are 10 years old or more, and Senate rules dating to 2009 or earlier ban signs, cell phone use and photo-taking, among other things.”
What you can do:
Wisconsinites who care about the First Amendment should contact their legislators and demand modernization of Capitol photography rules and an end to suppression of silent, peaceful protest in the galleries of the “People’s House.” While there should be limits on protest activity that is disruptive, police enforcement of a ban on a range of items interpreted as “signs” (from a post-it note on the bottom of someone’s foot, notebook papers taped to shirts, doodles on a spiral notebook and copies of the state or federal Constitution) must stop. Camera use, whether it is non-flash still photography or video cameras, should be allowed so that citizens can document their government’s activity. And as cell phone technology advances, policies should evolve to include non-disruptive uses of cell phones including cameras, video and texting.
The ACLU of Wisconsin will also continue, as it has in the past, to dispatch trained legal observers to document announced demonstrations, as resources permit. The next legal observer training in Madison will be on November 16th – find the event listing on Facebook or on our website. Contact (608) 469-5540 to find out how to volunteer.
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