First Amendment Rights Diminishing

Read this carefully, as you may be caught in a web that you may not even see. This will be a federal offense. Now, I am not for threatening anyone of our elected officials and believe in peaceful protests, so this is (as I see it) an infringement on our First Amendment. Which courts will see peaceful protesting a disruptive activity? If a handful of people truly are disruptive then will ALL the protesters be part of "the disruptive crowd"? Think about the effects of this bill.

Here are some highlights from the article linked above.

House Passes Bill That Will Make Protesting Illegal at Secret Service Covered Events 

"The US House of Representatives voted 388-to-3 in favor of H.R. 347 late Monday, a bill which is being dubbed the Federal Restricted Buildings and Grounds Improvement Act of 2011."  

You have to love the names they give these bills. It should be, First Amendment Diminished Act of 2012.

"Under the act, the government is also given the power to bring charges against Americans engaged in political protest anywhere in the country." 

"Under H.R. 347, a federal law will formally be applied to such instances, but will also allow the government to bring charges to protesters, demonstrators and activists at political events and other outings across America." 

"Covered under the bill is any person protected by the Secret Service. Although such protection isn’t extended to just everybody, making it a federal offense to even accidentally disrupt an event attended by a person with such status essentially crushes whatever currently remains of the right to assemble and peacefully protest." 

"While presidential inaugurations and meeting of foreign dignitaries are awarded the title, nearly three dozen events in all have been considered a National Special Security Event (NSSE) since the term was created under President Clinton. Among past events on the DHS-sanctioned NSSE list are Super Bowl XXXVI, the funerals of Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford, most State of the Union addresses and the 2008 Democratic and Republican National Conventions...." Are you planning on protesting the 2012 Democratic or Republican National Conventions? If so, you may want to see if they are or have been deemed a NSSE.


"When thousands of protesters are expected to descend on Chicago this spring for the 2012 G8 and NATO summits, they will also be approaching the grounds of a National Special Security Event. That means disruptive activity, to whichever court has to consider it, will be a federal offense under the act.
And don’t forget if you intend on fighting such charges, you might not be able to rely on evidence of your own. In the state of Illinois, videotaping the police, under current law, brings criminals charges. 

Don’t fret. It’s not like the country will really try to enforce it — right?"