Internetworkers: http://www.ibiblio.org/internetworkers/

["Shea Tisdale" <shea AT sheatisdale.com>]

I just read that the city commission has pushed the vote on this issue
back to Oct. 23.  This would, in effect, prevent any chance to challenge
the city ordinance by groups like the ACLU or others concerned with
civil liberties.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: internetworkers-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:internetworkers-
> bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of childers.paula AT epamail.epa.gov
> Sent: Thursday, September 25, 2003 11:55 AM
> To: internetworkers AT lists.ibiblio.org
> Subject: [internetworkers] FW: Anti-Free Speech ordinance [politics]
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> OK, this group has always seemed to at least be willing to stand up
for
> free speech issues, even if we can't agree on much else, including
> scotch, beer, or alcoholic kool-aid ;-)  So, I thought some of you
might
> care to at least see this message. I think it is pretty frightening,
> especially given the stuff about cameras.  If you consider this post
to
> be "kook" material, then I am sad for you and all of us.
> 
> >>>>
> 
> PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY!
> 
> This THURSDAY, SEPT. 25, the Miami City Commission will most likely
pass
> an ordinance banning  the use and  possession of a variety of items
> related to peaceful protests, demonstrations and protest marches. This
> includes puppets and other props; street theater masks; signs on
sticks;
> cameras (still and video; used to record the actions of overzealous
> police); padded clothing (for protection against police truncheons and
> dogs); bullhorns; gas masks of any kind, including bandannas (used for
> protection against tear-gas and other dangerous chemical agents often
> used indiscriminately and recklessly by police), and much more.
> 
> The ordinance, which will take effect when passed and expire on
> Thursday, Nov. 27, is clearly aimed at stifling the voices of the tens
> of thousands of people - students, union members, activists, peasant
> farmers and many other types of individuals - from around the Americas
> and the world who will be coming to South Florida to protest at the
FTAA
> (Free Trade Area of the Americas) meeting to be held from Nov. 17-21
in
> Miami.
> 
> This ordinance is an outrageous abridgment of democratic rights and
> civil liberties, including the right of free speech, the right to
> protest and the right to assemble. The ACLU and protest leaders have
> pointed out that the "proposed ordinance ... is so broadly written
that
> it may allow police to clamp down on constitutionally protected,
> peaceful protest activities." (The Miami Daily Business Review, "As
> Miami plans to prevent disruptions during trade talks, protest groups
> warn of First Amendment breaches," Sept. 19, 2003)
> 
> It's important that concerned citizens immediately contact Miami city
> officials to voice their opposition to this draconian,
unconstitutional
> measure. Although the ordinance seems destined for approval, these
> officials need to know that the eyes of the world are upon them and
that
> their action will be protested rather than allowed to happen quietly.
> Please take a moment to e-mail them, or if you can afford to, call
them.
> Tell them you're contacting them to express your opposition to this
> ordinance which strips away free speech rights - refer to it as the
> parades and demonstrations ordinance; if they ask what you mean, tell
> them it's item J-O3-772 on the Sept. 25 City Commission agenda, which
> would add section 6.1 to Chapter 54 of the City of Miami municipal
code.
> Be succint and polite, but make sure they understand how you feel.
> 
> MIAMI CITY OFFICIALS CONTACT INFORMATION
> (below this is an article on this issue and the FTAA)
> 
> Mayor Manuel A. Diaz:
> mannydiaz AT ci.miami.fl.us
> (305) 250-5300
> 
> District 1 Commissioner Angel Gonzalez:
> agonzalez AT ci.miami.fl.us
> (305)250-5430
> 
> District 2 Commissioner Johnny L. Winton:
> jwinton AT ci.miami.fl.us
> (305)250-5333
> 
> District 3 Commissioner Joe M. Sanchez:
> jsanchez AT ci.miami.fl.us
> (305)250-5380
> 
> District 4 Commissioner Tomas P. Regalado:
> tr AT ci.miami.fl.us
> (305)250-5420
> 
> District 5 Commissioner Arthur Teele Jr.:
> artteele AT ci.miami.fl.us
> (305)250-5390
> 
> City Manager Joe Arriola:
>  jarriola AT ci.miami.fl.us
> (305)250-5400
> 
> City Attorney Alejandro Vilarello:
> law AT ci.miami.fl.us
> (305) 416-1800
> 
> ***
> 
> Civil Rights Law and order  :   As Miami plans to prevent disruptions
> during trade talks, protest groups
> warn of First Amendment breaches
> September 19, 2003 By: Steve Ellman,  Miami Daily Business Review
> 
> Miami hopes to be more successful than Washington, D.C., was in 1998
at
> preventing violence
> 
> Two months before thousands of demonstrators are expected to descend
on
> Miami to protest high-level international trade talks, civil liberties
> activists and anti-globalization groups say police are interfering
with
> free speech rights.  Protesters and their attorneys claim police
> officials are stalling the issuing of permits that would allow rallies
> and parades in the downtown area to oppose a planning conference for
the
> Free Trade Area of the Americas.
> 
> "Permit requests have languished with the Police Department for two
> months," said Miami ACLU leader Lida Rodriguez-Taseff, who has been
> counseling a coalition of environmental and peace groups that plan to
> protest. "We're getting the runaround."
> 
> The ACLU and protest leaders say that a proposed ordinance aimed at
> preventing violent protests is so broadly written that it may allow
> police to clamp down on constitutionally protected, peaceful protest
> activities. City leaders say the ordinance, which was approved on
first
> reading last week, is aimed at preventing violent protests such as
those
> at the World Trade Organization's 1999 meeting in Seattle and other,
> more recent international conferences.
> 
> The pressure is on city leaders and police to provide a peaceful venue
> for the November talks aimed at creating the Free Trade Area of the
> Americas. The city wants to impress attendees, because it is in the
> running to be the headquarters of the 34-nation free-trade zone that
> would stretch from Argentina to Canada.
> 
> Protest leaders say a slide show presented by Miami police for
business
> leaders last week suggested that police may even consider it
threatening
> for protesters to snap photos of crowd control activities.
> 
> "We're just trying to make a statement," said South Florida AFL-CIO
> president Fred Frost. "The police are overzealous about the 2 percent
of
> demonstrators they say are violent."
> 
> But Miami Police Maj. Thomas Roell, who will be tactical commander for
> law enforcement during the FTAA summit, said, "Law enforcement is just
> trying to strike a balance between the protesters' rights and the
trade
> meeting's rights." He said police "can work with any group that wants
to
> protest in a lawful way."
> 
> State and local leaders want to bolster efforts to have Miami selected
> as the site of the FTAA's headquarters. They claim that would bring as
> many as 90,000 jobs and an additional $14 billion annually to the
> state's economy. And protest groups see the event as a platform to
build
> on growing discontent among U.S. and Latin American workers coping
with
> an extended recession.
> 
> Critics of the FTAA argue that creating a hemispheric free trade zone
> would fuel an international race to the bottom on wages and
> environmental rules, as nations compete for business investment.
> 
> The centerpiece of the meeting is a conference of 34 trade ministers
at
> the Hotel Inter-Continental on Nov. 20-21. The protesters' plans
include
> two days of rallies and marches. A national coalition of organized
labor
> spearheaded by the South Florida AFL-CIO is scheduled to rally on
> Thursday, Nov. 20; an environmental/peace coalition, organized as the
> Welcoming Committee of the FTAA, is scheduled for Friday, Nov. 21.
> 
> 'Out in the boonies'
> 
> The labor coalition wants to secure a permit for as many as 30,000
union
> members to march down Biscayne Boulevard toward the Inter-Continental.
> But the AFL-CIO's Frost said Miami police officials have proposed an
> alternate route several blocks away, along Northwest Second Avenue
-"out
> in the boonies," he calls it.
> 
> Frost said the police proposal would block a major goal of the protest
> march - getting close enough to the trade ministers' meeting "so that
> they can see 30,000 working men and women voicing our concerns."  He
> also said the police route was impractical because of its distance
from
> a planned rally and teach-in at the Bayfront Amphitheater, which the
> union has rented. He said that would make it difficult for the
expected
> large contingent of seniors and families.   Frost said his group
applied
> for its permit in early August, but was unable to get a substantive
> meeting with police representatives until late last week.
> 
> Rodriguez-Taseff said her clients - who call themselves the Welcoming
> Committee of the FTAA - were given bogus reasons for their permit
delay
> when they met with police last week. "They told us they were unable to
> clear our application because they still hadn't decided on street
> closings and traffic routes for the trade officials," she said.  But
> Rodriguez-Taseff said that claim was belied by a slide presentation
> police officials made to downtown business leaders last week that
> included traffic routes.
> 
> "We were lied to," Rodriguez-Taseff said. But city officials insist
the
> plans are still tentative.
> 
> City Community Relations Board chair Brenda Shapiro, who is
facilitating
> the march permit discussions, acknowledged that the discussions
between
> the police and the protest groups were uncomfortable. But she blamed
the
> protesters for "sandbagging" the police by bringing ACLU lawyers with
> them. "It was tense because the city was misled about who would come,"
> Shapiro said. "No one's been given a permit because this is still the
> information-gathering stage."
> 
> Miami Police Maj. Roell said traffic planning would continue to evolve
> as new march permit applications arrived. Four permits are currently
"in
> process," he said. "There is no cut-off date for accepting more."  The
> various protest groups were scheduled to meet with police again this
> week.
> 
> Police plan
> 
> The police presentations to business leaders last week provide a
glimpse
> into attitudes and planning regarding the FTAA protests.   It
describes
> three purported types of demonstrators - one "union-based" and
> "nonviolent," a second "anti-government" and "anti-establishment," and
a
> third composed of "fringe elements" that are "mostly nonviolent."
> 
> The slide show describes the protests during the World Trade
> Organization meeting in Seattle in 1999 - at which some of the
> demonstrators were involved in riots and looting - as "the 'model' for
> future protests."
> 
> Police fears are not without any foundation. Miami New Times has
> reported that some anti-globalization advocates like the Pittsburgh
> Organizing Group have openly vowed to "materially disrupt" the FTAA.
And
> violence has been a predictable feature at international trade
> gatherings for years.
> 
> But the slide show offers an extremely broad definition of "protest
> tactics" to watch out for. It includes protesters pointing out
> plainclothes police officers, providing first aid supplies to injured
> demonstrators, and taking photographs. "Protesters create and take
> advantage of negative photo opportunities" is the caption under a
photo
> of a young man focusing a camera.
> 
> Carolina Delgado, a spokeswoman for South Floridians for Fair Trade
and
> Justice, worries that police will see photo-taking by demonstrators as
a
> hostile activity and seek to stop protesters from doing so or even
> restrain or arrest them.
> 
> "Cameras and video are mainly a way to document our movement," she
said.
> "But they also safeguard our interest in preventing police brutality
and
> protecting our rights." Roell responded that police "have no intention
> of confiscating cameras from anyone with a legitimate reason to have
> one. That's not going to happen."
> 
> But Rodriguez-Taseff was unappeased. "This is the kind of wishy-washy
> language that gets us all in trouble," she said. "It opens us up to
the
> unfettered discretion of the police."
> 
> Restrictive ordinance
> 
> The proposed revision of the city's public demonstrations ordinance
> raises other free speech concerns, according to critics. Calling the
> proposal "overly broad and restrictive," Rodriguez-Taseff  said the
> law's expiration date, set just after the FTAA meetings, shows that it
> is targeted solely at that event's protesters, a violation of their
> equal protection and due process rights. If passed into law on second
> reading, she said a court challenge from ACLU was "99 percent
certain."
> 
> The proposed ordinance would prohibit demonstrators from carrying a
wide
> range of objects, including golf balls, batteries and "materials or
> devices that can be thrown or projected that can or may cause or have
> the potential of causing" personal or property damage. The attitude of
> police toward the protesters could work against the FTAA,
> Rodriguez-Taseff cautioned. "If the FTAA leaders want a successful
> meeting, they could do better than to throw down the gauntlet," she
> said.
> 
> Delgado expressed concern that a battle over civil liberties issues
> could obscure the protesters' larger political and economic message
> about the dangers of the free trade agreement.  "We know how important
> free speech is," Delgado said. "But we are here to talk about the
threat
> to labor and the environment and democracy."
> 
> Steve Ellman can be reached at sellman AT floridabiz.com or at (561)
> 820-2071.
> 
> 
> ---
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