Saturday, October 29, 2011
Law and Order State Rep. Stewart Condemns Governor's Crackdown
Posted by Jeff Woods on Sat, Oct 29, 2011 at 8:59 PM
There is no more fundamental American freedom than the freedom of speech. The right of the people to exchange ideas and to protest government actions they find unwise is enshrined in the both the United States and Tennessee Constitutions. Defending such essential American rights should be the very first job of our State Government.The Haslam Administration’s recent efforts to shut down protests on Legislative Plaza goes in the other direction and should be condemned by all Tennesseans, regardless of political persuasion. Legislative Plaza is a public place, owned by the people, paid for by the people, and used by the people for years as a place to exercise their First Amendment rights. Now, all of a sudden, the Haslam Administration is charging citizens for the right to use their own Plaza, limiting citizens’ access to that public space to hours when most citizens with day jobs cannot exercise their free speech rights, and imposing a million dollar insurance requirement that many citizens doubtless cannot satisfy. The intended effect is to close the Legislative Plaza to the very citizens who are supposed to be in command of our democratic state and federal governments.
Administration officials’ suggestion that the new policies are needed to prevent “deteriorating sanitary conditions” and “maintain security and safety” do not hold water. Tennessee has long had laws in place to deal with such issues; if individuals are acting in ways that endanger others, then state and local officials have the power to stop those particular people without at the same time infringing on the rights of other citizens.
At a time when young men and women are putting themselves in harm’s way in war zones halfway around the world to defend our rights, we should be particularly vigilant to preserve those rights at home. The world has always looked to our country to set the example for all peoples desirous of freedom; we should be careful every day to maintain that moral high ground.
It was not long ago that a group of college students led a protest march past what is now Legislative Plaza to the Davidson County Courthouse and successfully persuaded then Mayor Ben West to be the first leader in the South to de-segregate downtown businesses. In that same spirit, we should welcome peaceful protesters to our public spaces whether or not those protesters happen to be promoting ideas that we agree with.
Our Tennessee Constitution reminds us that “all power is inherent in the people, and all free governments are founded on their authority.” I call on Governor Haslam to immediately rescind all new policies designed to make peaceful demonstrations more difficult and to thereby return Legislative Plaza to the control of the people of Tennessee.
Comments (9)
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"Where are the rest of the state's Democratic legislators?"
Not to mention, where is our Mayor? I know state property is beyond his actual control, but no statement, nothing?!? The longer he lays low the smaller he becomes...
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Finally, one Tennesse Democrat steps up. Attaboy Stewart! Would that there were more of your likeness.
Good for Stewart. Time for all decent Tenneseans to stand up to this illegal, unconstitutional, unAmerican assault on the Constitution and the rights of our citizens.
We shouldn't forget that Rep. Stewart is also a veteran who served our country and fought to protect and defend the Constitution. Did Haslam serve in the military? Does he have a law degree like Stewart? We should remember that having a father who was successful in business doesn't qualify you for the governor's office.
I think it's cute how some Metro freshmen State Representatives and
council members attempt to place their elected authority on par with
that of the Governor! I should be allowed a few nights of rest (being
a citizen and all) in the my State's Curtiswood Road Mansion, but
apparently there's a similar prohibition against that as well!
I'm as happy as anybody about this but I hope the fringe element doesn't take this as an opportunity to act out and ruin this victory for the sane intelligent people who can actually do some good. Everyone please conduct yourselves peacefully and lawfully.
BRAVO for this astute and principled defense of the First Amendment Rights of the Occupy Nashvillians.
Just a brief refresher course on Constitutional Rights and attempts by the State to interfere with them. Whenever the state passes a law that does not infringe anybody's constitutional rights, the state need only demonstrate a *rational basis* for the law. So, for example, a law banning barefoot people from walking into restaurants need only have a rational justification for it, like "We don't want people tracking in foot funguses or other diseases where food is being served."
Where a law would interfere, however, with individuals' exercise of a Fundamental Constitutional Right, such as the First Amendment Right to Free Assembly and to Free Speech, then the State must demonstrate that it had a COMPELLING INTEREST in the matter addressed in the law.
So, for example, for the State of Tennessee to claim that it needs to tidy up the public plaza where Occupy Nashville is protesting and that too much garbage is accumulating there, that is a rational justification, but it does not rise to the level of a COMPELLING interest or need.
If, however, the participants in Occupy Nashville were to come down with an outbreak of Cholera or Influenza , then the State would have a compelling interest in clearing the Plaza in order to protect the inhabitants of Nashville and Tennessee from a serious epidemic.
The Constitution expects the government to have to put up with some inconvenience or to have to work a little bit harder in order to assure that Americans' constitutional rights can be fully exercised.
