Churches and schools, even publicly funded schools are considered private property under most if not all state laws. I know that may seem strange but it's true. They are not public space such as a public street public sidewalk or Town Square. There are exceptions, here in New England, if you live in a town with town meeting government, and the school auditorium is used for the meeting, or really small places where the town meeting house might double as the church, for that time, it is public space, but even then you are under Roberts Rules of Order, and if you attempt to disrupt the meeting you can be ejected and arrested. He was being a nuisance, then trespassing, and creating a disturbance, and eventually resisting arrest. (It's amazing how quickly being a nuisance can become resisting arrest). The only absolute right you have to freedom of speech is in the public square, truly public property, (town or city hall, meeting rooms etc.), and on your own property, and even there you're not allowed to force people to listen to you, if you try to force them that can actually be construed as assault, kidnapping or worse, you should know that. There may be attempts at constitutional actions but no judge in his right mind should allow them to arise in his or her court.
frank theriault wrote: > On 9/26/07, P. J. Alling <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > >> The first amendment: "Congress shall make no law... or abridging the >> freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably >> to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of >> grievances." This doesn't seem to cover meetings held on private >> property where the owners can have idiots ejected or arrested for >> trespass, simply by revoking their permission for said idiot to be >> there. Secondly he didn't seem to petitioning the government, just >> badgering a public official. The fact that the cops who were called by >> the management over reacted is not per se a violation of the idiots >> freedom of speech, certainly not by congress, or the state government, >> .though he may have basis for an action against those police officers >> for battery. >> > > Private property? > > That appears to be a school (funded by taxpayers) or a church (exempt > from paying taxes and as such "state funded") or a town hall. No > matter what it is, I'd say they're in a public or pseudo-public space, > and in any event it's surely a meeting to which the general public was > invited. > > What those cops (or security people, or whoever those goons were) did > was ~absolutely~ a violation of his freedom of speech, right to > assemble, etc. The question would be, "were the capitalist > stormtroopers acting as authorized agents of the state, or did they go > beyond the scope of their jurisdiction to the point that their actions > do not constitute state intervention, thus rendering them solely > liable for their inexcusable actions?" > > If they were private rent-a-cops, they and their employers will be > liable for (at the very least) assault and battery, if they were real > cops, there could be a whole bevy of constitutional actions that could > arise from this. > > cheers, > frank > > > > > > > -- Remember, it’s pillage then burn. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
