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[Joey Carr <joey AT metalab.unc.edu>]

On Thu, 10 Jul 2003 machett AT ibiblio.org wrote:

> § 14-12.6.  Meeting places and meetings of secret societies regulated.
>  [doesn't this sorta infringe on peaceable assembly?]

Peaceable assembly is one of those controversial amendments like the right
to bear arms.  The fact is that it sets up an internal inconsistency in
the Constitution, and we have to be careful to navigate around that
inconsistency without damaging the core ideals.  This is why we have a
supreme court.

Is a ten inch cannon really constitutionally protected?  Is the KKK
allowed to meet in secret and plan the murder of African Americans?  I'd
say yes to both, but the government has an abiding interest in monitoring
your ten inch cannon to make sure you do not pose a safety risk to your
neighbors, and yes, in monitoring the activities of its citizens to the
extent that it does not infringe on their privacy.  Conspiracy is not
protected as being "private" although it is by definition something done
in private.

The government can watch my power bill for fluctuations that would
indicate that I'm growing marijuana, or my bank account to tell if I'm
selling coke, but they can't look inside my house without a court order.  
They can pull me over in traffic and smell my car, but they can't root
though the trunk unless it smells funny.

So, back to peaceable assembly.  The stress these days is on the peaceable
part.  A lot of the public these days would rather see demonstrations
disbursed and secret societies banned than have riots or conspiracies
going on.  Quite a bit of the decision as to whether or not you should
break up a demonstration depends on how much you believe it's going to
become un-peaceable.  Opinions vary.  The fact that it so happens that the
legitimate public interest in preserving the peace happens to coincide
with our overlords, er, uhm, current administration, need to quell dissent
is merely a coincidence.  Opinions vary.

-Joey

--

What publishers are looking for these days isn't radical feminism.
It's corporate feminism -- a brand of feminism designed to sell books
and magazines, three-piece suits, airline tickets, Scotch, cigarettes
and, most important, corporate America's message, which runs: "Yes,
women were discriminated against in the past, but that unfortunate
mistake has been remedied; now every woman can attain wealth, prestige
and power by dint of individual rather than collective effort."
                -- Susan Gordon