On an Appeal on the issue of free speech and obeying police orders

As you may know, Betty Resnikoff was arrested during the summer by Homeland Security in front of the federal building at a July 17 counter-protest opposing a pro-Israeli rally supporting the Israeli invasion of Lebanon. While she was handing out fliers, Homeland Security officers ordered her to stop talking with people from the pro-Israeli rally. She was then was arrested and given two tickets, one for “creating a disorder,” and another for “not complying with the order” as fast as the police wanted.

At a trial in October in federal magistrates court, she was found not-guilty of disorder, and guilty of not complying with a police order.

Upon requests from activists in the peace and justice movement, Betty is appealing the guilty verdict, in federal court. We decided this would be a good move, as we need to use all avenues to struggle against fascism and the police state growing around us.

There was a status hearing on Betty’s case Wednesday morning, January 17th. The federal appeals judge said he said he would announce his decision at a session at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, February 21, in room #1419 of the Dirksen Federal Building. This would be based on the brief Betty submitted and any brief the government submits in reply as well as the transcript of the October trial.

Our side submitted a brief for her case, showing--

(1) the police had not proven there was justification for stopping Betty’s free speech by showing there was impending violence or riot or threat of physical attacks. She cited various Supreme Court cases that indicate that demonstrators should be allowed to carry out their work of leafleting, having debates or discussion, etc. unless there is clearly serious threat of riot, severe disorder, etc., and

(2) where a protester questions the police about the legality or correctness of a police order, the questions should not be considered non-compliance with any order they issue, with Supreme Court cases also cited supporting this.

We found it quite useful to check into the prior cases on this that were researched by us and others who worked on this case. The results of this research will be made available to the movement so everyone can be conscious of legal decisions supporting our rights. Hopefully the judge will rule in our favor and against the further development of the police state.

Since we all know that the police break the law all the time, we are not under any illusion that, if we win the case, the police will change their behavior. But a winning decision would give us all some additional ammunition for together challenging police who are trying to interfere with our rights. For example, if anyone at a demonstration is stopped because the police think s/he is shouting too loud or arguing with an opponent, the rest of us can surround the police and the protester, shouting: “Freedom of speech! Freedom of speech!” and handing the police a copy of the verdict with Supreme Court decisions, and we can demand to talk with a supervising officer. In other words, we can continually oppose attempts to interfere with our work, and not give fascism a chance to develop quietly or without opposition.