Thursday, February 16, 2012
Breaking News House Votes to Evict Occupy Nashville
Posted by Jeff Woods on Thu, Feb 16, 2012 at 10:35 AM
Republicans denied they were restricting First Amendment rights and claimed they merely were enacting a No Camping law to preserve state property for use by all the public.
“This has nothing to do with protesting,” said the sponsor, House Judiciary Committee chairman Eric Watson, R-Cleveland. “People need to read the bill. This just prohibits camping on state property. This property belongs to all Tennesseans. This bill restores the entire public’s right to utilize property here at the state Capitol.”
Rep. Barrett Rich, R-Somerville, called it “ridiculous to think otherwise.”
“You have the First Amendment right to come to this plaza to redress your grievances. But you don’t have the First Amendment right to sleep. Your tent has absolutely no First Amendment rights. At what point is protesting just taking a nap?”
Democrats recalled sit-ins of the civil rights era and argued Occupy Nashville has the right to demonstrate on War Memorial Plaza just as the Ku Klux Klan and Tea Partiers have that right.
“We give the Ku Klux Klan, as reprehensible as they are to me and I hope to you guys, they have the right to protest in this country,” House Democratic Caucus chairman Mike Turner said. “They were camping at Tiananmen Square and they put the tanks on them and they threw them out. Most of you would defend the right to carry a gun anywhere in the state. We’re going to carry guns everywhere in the state of Tennessee, but by God, you can’t camp.”
Rep. Mike Stewart, D-Nashville, called the legislation “unprecedented in our country.”
“We’ve allowed super PACs to rise up such that any billionaire can roll out of bed and secretly fund somebody’s campaign. The point is, here we are in a country right now where wealthy people have been given the power to literally control presidential campaigns with their money” because that's free speech, yet the legislature is outlawing Occupy Nashville’s encampment.
Democrats also objected to the penalty for breaking the law—11 months and 29 days in jail and a $2,500 fine. “It seems like there was a special effort here to be punitive,” Rep. Gary Odom, D-Nashville, said.
The bill's passage in the Senate—probably next week—is certain. Gov. Bill Haslam said yesterday he will sign the bill into law once that happens, but he said he will consult with the attorney general’s office before deciding whether to enforce it.
The law could face a court test. It seems to be on shaky constitutional grounds because it obviously specifically targets Occupy Nashville. Protesters are talking about taking down their tents—some already have gone home. But they say they will return in shifts to maintain a 24/7 vigil on the plaza. Others say they will defy the new law and dare state troopers to arrest them.
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Comments (17)
Showing 1-17 of 17
Of course this has nothing to do with protesting or rights. It has everything to do with Haslam trying to win back all the conservatives he lost when he wimped out the first time with these people.
"“It seems like there was a special effort here to be punitive,” Rep. Gary Odom, D-Nashville, said "
You bet ya. And more to come as the ducks are in a row now-they will be arrested and processed through the system.
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I want to know why the "Occupiers" always bring up the Tea Party? TPP has never taken over city/county/state/federal property to further their agenda. They have never had clashes with the police or bullied ordinary citizens for not agreeing with them.
These "Occupiers" are just bums trying to get their 15 minutes of fame. What they need to do is get off Soros' payroll and get a real job! I believe it's about time the Americans who are sick and tired of these stories to go and peacefully MOVE THEM OUT!!
I'm sorry but if you are so blind to what these people are doing then I feel bad for you. I don't agree what they are camping for, but I do agree that they should be allow to camp-in as a demonstration of freedom of speech. Yet, all these comments on here only look at these people as bums etc etc. You do realize that some of these Occupiers are students going to school full time and have jobs right? Please tell me where the bum is in that? Yet, there are so many people just willing to let the government do what they want to. Yet, when we hear other countries being oppressed for speaking out we fill like we should do something about it, but in our own country we turn are head.
Rep. Mike Stewart, D-Nashville, called the legislation “unprecedented in our country.”
Um, no.
Colorado bans camping on state capitol grounds.
Most - and probably all - states regulate where you can and can not set up a tent on public parks and public land. Try setting up your tent on the road or the pool patio at Fall Creek Falls - or right at the top of the falls. They will make you remove the tent, and it isn't a violation of your First Amendment rights.
The legislation does not evict Occupy Nashville or prevent them from being on the plaza 24 hours a day. It simply bans camping there - which makes sense because it isn't a camp ground.
Give it up, Bill. The squatter supporters are oblivious to logic.
I don't want to ever hear from the GOP about rights and the Constitution. They have taken more rights away from the people of TN than anytime in our history. If this is the best that they can do, they do not deserve to be in contol of anything. Throw them out before they completely destroy our state.!
We should be ashamed to live in a state which is so eager to get in line to trample the Constitution. We are being subjected to a police state where protesting is not being tolerated. These evictions exemplify the suppression of our civil liberties including the right to organize, one of the basis rights set forth by our founding fathers. Police brutality is running rampant under orders from Governors who have their pockets lined with Wall Street and Special Interest monies. Stand up and lend your voice with these free posters I was compelled to design on my artist’s blog at http://dregstudiosart.blogspot.com/2011/11…
I gues "Blue" never heard of Jim Crow legislation, which was heralded by Al Gore Sr. and the like at one time.
Any time a law is passed to criminalize behavior that was not criminal in the past, and the law is designed to target a specific group or organization, it is unconstitutional. Salon “Occupy fights the law: Will the law win? From Boise to Nashvile, the movement faces an unconstitutional legal siege” http://www.salon.com/2012/02/14/occupy_fig…
Bums are people who do not try to get work. The occupy movement isn't really even about jobs, per se. It is about the conflict of interests between big money and individual people's rights. Occupy people are taking a stand, albeit for different reasons, against the steady EROSION of our civil liberties. Those little liberties, such small things, are the mooring lines which keep the whole of our freedoms from slipping away. To fully understand what is going on, why they are"camping", you have to study the civil rights movement, the life of Ghandi and the theories of civil action. If you have not studied these things then you cannot understand what is going on. Ignorance is easily cured with knowledge, but only hidden by opinions.
@mn said: They're nothing but a bunch of bums dirtying our capitol.
I agree. When will the Tennessee General Assembly disperse?
"Rep. Barrett Rich, R-Somerville, called it 'ridiculous to think otherwise.'"
Pretty sure he meant, "it's ridiculous to think."
They did this same crap back in the VietNam War days in Centennial Park. Cops arrested anybody they didn't like the looks of for 'vagrancy'. A judge threw it out of court with predjudice.I wish I remembered his name out of honor and respect.
What year is this, again?
This has certainly been a poor and motley failure of the Re-elect the President
movement thus far! Maybe they can rejuvenate Acorn and get all the membership
names from the "Nashville Peace and Justice Center" out scouting for votes.
If you're not in favor of contraception, just remember the case of Eric Watson's mother.
