Traffic Blockade Protests Were a Nuisance. Lawmakers Want to Make Them a Felony.
Traffic Blockade Protests Were a Nuisance. Lawmakers Want to Make Them a Felony.
“Taking to the streets is a core part of our right to protest.”
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I'm not talking about harassment. Simply protestors blocking all traffic on a street that has an abortion clinic.
Is it good for democracy when pregnant women can't drive to their appointment?
While we're at it, what about climate deniers blocking access to public chargers, thus stranding anyone using an EV?
Or right-wingers who block off access to bike lanes just to "pwn the libs."
All of these have already happened, by the way. Were they good for democracy?
You're making up hypotheticals that aren't happening when the law is designed to silence civil rights protests.
All of them have already happened.
Abortion opponents block access to clinics. Right-wingers block access to charging stations and bike lanes.
Harassment, trespassing, and illegal parking, in that order.
Police will abuse their discretion if it's made a felony, effectively outlawing only street protests that police don't approve of.
And standing in the middle of traffic is jaywalking.
But I thought shutting down traffic was good for democracy. Should people who block access to abortion clinics be punished or not?
And standing in the middle of traffic is jaywalking.
Then cops can issue tickets. There's no reason to make it a felony except wanting to silence people cops don't like.
I think you should address their question. What happens when the other side imitates the tactic? Do you still support it or only when your side does it?
I support the right of people to vote and know that I strongly disagree with how many people vote.
Compare what happened with the BLM protests to what cops did at the insurrection.
Cops choose to treat the causes I don't support with kid gloves and causes I do support with brutality already. Making protesting in the streets a felony will only de facto criminalize the behavior for one side.
So because a law is enforced badly anarchy should rule?
I agree there is uneven enforcement and it wouldn't surprise me at all if people have produced studies showing that. The solution is not to have no laws. The solution is to fix how laws are enforced.
The solution is also not additional laws for police to abuse against those who want police accountability. Fix the police first, then we can talk about how you want to equate a lack of new laws with lawlessness.
No. Stop blocking ambulances first. We don't need a perfect system before we have any laws.
Are you people going to continue to just throw random arguments at the wall to see what sticks?
No. Stop blocking ambulances first. We don’t need a perfect system before we have any laws.
We have laws. You keep pretending we don't because you want to make protesting a felony.