Erica+Pettit

Should the right to protest be limited? === The right to protest is a very popular subject but is a very controversial one. I have chosen this topic because there are protests that go on everyday and everywhere in the world. The topic should continue to be important because there are so many protests, and some that are for a food cause as well as some that are very offensive, people should be concerned with and aware of what the protests are about. Readers of my site should learn the same things that I will be learning throughout my research progress. === -The Freedom of Speech clause protects the right of people being able to say what they want during protests. -As long as the protesters are not disturbing others or harming others it is okay to protest. -People should be able to do what they want as long as they are not trying to kill people or hurt them. -People use protesting as a way to let their opinion be known. -Protesting does not always have to be yelling and marching, it can just be simply walking around with a shirt saying what your protesting. -Protesting could be bringing a point across and help bring supporters for a good cause. ||= -The right to protest should be limited. -Even though people have freedom of speech, their is exceptions as to things that you can say, such as threats. -Even if the protesters are being silent, the EX..signs they are holding, the banners they have, the clothes they are wearing.. are disturbing and being offensive. -Protesting could cause a riot. -People could get mad at the protesters and start fighting and/or shooting. -People may start protesting for the wrong reasons and turn on people. ||
 * = Pros ||= Cons ||
 * = -The right to protest should not be limited.

Feiner v New York-
====Irving Feiner protested on a street in New York and said insulting things against politicians and the president, that they are all “bums.” He also said that blacks do not have equal rights and that they should rise together and fight for their deserved rights. Once the people began getting angry and forming a riot, the police came to break it up and get them out of the way of traffic. When they told Feiner to get off the stand, he refused so they arrested him. The court ruled that he was guilty of disorderly conduct and the cause of a possible riot. ====

Black v Virginia-
==== In 1998, a man named Barry Black led a Ku Klux Klan group that rallied and protested on a private property with the owner’s permission. When the rally was over with, they all gathered around a 30 foot cross and burned it. A neighbor witnessed the actions and called the police, and they arrested Black because it was against the Virginia state law to burn a cross. Once he was taken to court, the court ruled in Black’s favor saying that, the law against burning a cross is unconstitutional, but since they were only doing it through freedom of expression their right to protest and burn the cross was protected. ====

<span style="color: #ae1919; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Snyder v Phelps- <span style="color: #ae1919; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">The people of Westboro Baptist Church protested at a funeral of a man that died in war. Westboro Baptist Church held up signs stating that, “God Hates Fags” and other signs portraying hatred for homosexuals. The father of the man that died took them to court, the court ruled in Westboro's favor because of the Freedom of Speech Clause in the First Amendment. They were not doing any physical harm to anyone and since they followed certain rules such as protesting 30 minutes before and 1000 feet away, their protest was allowed.

<span style="color: #808000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">Conclusion:

<span style="color: #808000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">Establishing the rules and boundaries of the First Amendment could not have been an easy task for the people that wrote it. Lots of time, thought, and brains went into establishing the Constitution and the Amendments that are held within. The fact that 200 years later, we are still using the Constitution to prosecute shows the hard work and impact the men of history have left on us. We may not realize the effect that documents, such as the Constitution, have on us now, but when it comes to a situation where we will need it’s knowledge, then people will begin to learn about their rights. Even if it takes almost all your life to realize what rights you have, I think that people should be concerned and eager to see what history and its founding fathers have given us. The right to protest should not be limited due to the fact that protesting can be translated differently, and for all we know, that bracelet, necklace, shirt, that we are wearing, is exercising our right to protest.

<span style="color: #404040; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Works Cited

<span style="color: #404040; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">"Anti-abortion Protesters Demonstrate in Front of Jackson Schools." WAPT News. WAPT News, 8 <span style="color: #404040; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> Nov. 2012. Web. 11 Dec. 2012. <span style="color: #404040; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Garcia, Arturo. "Attorney: TX Teen Ostracized for Protesting School GPS Chip." The Raw Story. <span style="color: #404040; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> Raw Story Media, 2012. Web. 11 Dec. 2012. <span style="color: #404040; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">"Freedom of Speech Cases." Feiner v. New York. Project LEGAL, n.d. Web. 27 Nov. 2012. <span style="color: #404040; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> <http://www2.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/scales/feiner.html>. <span style="color: #404040; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">"Freedom of Speech Cases." Virginia v. Black: Facts. Project LEGAL, n.d. Web. 28 Nov. 2012. <span style="color: #404040; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> <http://www2.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/scales/blackfacts.html>. <span style="color: #404040; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">"Freedom of Speech Clause." Revolutionary War and Beyond. Revolutionary War and Beyond, <span style="color: #404040; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> 2008-2012. Web. 20 Nov. 2012. <http://www.revolutionary-war-and-beyond.com/freedom- <span style="color: #404040; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> of-speech-clause.html>. <span style="color: #404040; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">"March Planned after Penn State Sorority Reprimanded over Offensive Photo." Fox News. FOX <span style="color: #404040; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> News Network, 11 Dec. 2012. Web. 11 Dec. 2012. <span style="color: #404040; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">"Role of the Supreme Court." Scholastic Teachers. Scholastic, 1989. Web. 11 Dec. 2012. <span style="color: #404040; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Slick, Matthew J. "What About Westboro Baptist Church?" CARM. CARM, 2012. Web. 6 Dec. 2012. <span style="color: #404040; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">"Snyder v Phelps." Supreme Court of the United States. United States Reports, 2 <span style="color: #404040; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> Mar. 2011. Web. 20 Nov. 2012. <http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/10pdf/09- <span style="color: #404040; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> 751.pdf>. <span style="color: #404040; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Stolarik, Robert. "Occupy Movement (Occupy Wall Street)." The New York Times. The New York <span style="color: #404040; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> Times, 17 Sept. 2012. Web. 28 Nov. 2012. <span style="color: #404040; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/o/occupy_wall_street/ <span style="color: #404040; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> index.html>. <span style="color: #404040; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">"You and Your Rights-Assembly and Petition." Newspaper in Education= A Classroom Resource. <span style="color: #404040; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> The Washington Post, 2 Feb. 2012. Web. 15 Sept. 2012. Web. <span style="color: #404040; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">"Your Right to Protest." Rights of Protesters. ACLU of Florida, n.d. Web. 28 Nov. 2012. <span style="color: #404040; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> <http://www.aclufl.org/pdfs/right_to_protest_brochure.pdf>.