Wisconsin: Veterans were arrested. Journalists were arrested. Elected officials were arrested.
Good article on the Court's decision to poke Scott Walker in the eye.
http://m.host.madison.com/news/opinion/editorial/scott-walker-is-finally-intimidated-by-the-rule-of-law/article_836473ce-a69f-524c-9159-8c0d4171f3cb.html
Scott Walker is finally intimidated by the rule of law
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker likes to claim he is “unintimidated.” That’s the title of the upcoming book he plans to use to jump-start his presidential campaign. There is no question that Walker knows something about intimidation. But it is comic to suggest that he is the one who had been pressured. Walker has, from the beginning of his governorship, sought to intimidate Wisconsinites who seek to exercise their rights. But now he has been forced to back down. Though he resisted every step of the way, the governor has finally been forced to respect his oath of office.
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The U.S. Constitution was amended at the behest of its essential author, James Madison, to include specific protections of the right to assemble and to petition the government for the redress of grievances. The Wisconsin Constitution goes further still, declaring: "The right of the people peaceably to assemble, to consult for the common good, and to petition the government, or any department thereof, shall never be abridged.” These are core concepts for Wisconsinites, and for all Americans.
Yet Walker did not just abandon his commitment to the constitutions of his state and nation; he assaulted the basic underpinnings of those documents with the full force of his administration. From the early days of his governorship, Walker has sought to prevent dissenters from assembling and petitioning for the redress of grievances — aggressively moving at one turn after another to abridge the right of the people peaceably to assemble, to consult for the common good, and to petition the government.
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Last week, in response to a federal lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin and attorney A. Steven Porter on behalf of Michael Kissick, an assistant professor in the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health, the Walker administration abandoned the most draconian of its assaults on First Amendment protections.
This quote is from Judge Conley's decision:
"The Capitol rotunda is closer to an out-of-doors, traditional public forum in that it is a capacious gathering space with a unique history as a place for government and public discourse, which admits for (indeed was designed for) a certain level of disturbance that would not be proper in a typical state office building or even a typical state capitol."
More here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10849248
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