Free speech under attack in Madison
FREEDOM OF speech is being threatened in the "progressive" town of Madison, Wis.
Early this year, police ticketed and threatened to arrest several local International Socialist Organization (ISO) activists for setting up a small table with political literature on State Street, the busiest pedestrian thoroughfare in town. The ISO has been tabling on State Steet almost every weekend since 1982.
The ticket cited a local ordinance forbidding "placing objects on sidewalk or terrace." After challenging the ticket in court on a First Amendment basis, the city prosecution failed to contend the matter, and the case was dismissed with prejudice.
Even though we won that battle, by no means is the free speech of activists always protected in Madison.
During a recent merchant sidewalk sale event on State Street, antiwar activists and members of Iraq Veterans Against the War were harassed by the cops and kicked off State Street under threat of arrest for "trespassing"--for handing out fliers promoting a Winter Soldier kick-off event in Madison. Additionally, the ISO could not conduct its normal weekend distribution of the Socialist Worker newspaper and other literature. Even Democratic Party activists were asked to leave for registering people to vote.
The police justified this by citing an "exclusive use" ordinance that is meant to give event organizers exclusive rights to choose vendors. In other words, the city is equating political activists with merchants in order to curtail their right to free speech on public property designed to foster political discussion.
State Street was turned into a pedestrian mall in the mid 70's by the city with the explicit intent of making it a "safe place for commerce and political speech." There have been many of these so-called "exclusive use" weekends this summer, which have disrupted the ability of various groups to effectively promote their causes.
While the courts did protect our free speech rights in the last case, history has shown that it is sometimes the courts that actively deny our civil rights. History has also shown that it takes the mass self-organization of everyday people to not only win but to protect those very rights.
The next step for us is to build a campaign that challenges the city's unconstitutional policies. We plan on bringing together a coalition of activist groups, civil libertarians and others upset by these policies in order to mobilize an action on the next "exclusive use" weekend to defend our rights and expose the hypocrisy of a city council that fancies itself progressive.
The American government has a long history of suppressing civil rights, from infiltrating the Black Panthers in the 1960's, to recently spying on anti-death penalty activists in Maryland. Until there is a movement that challenges the system that puts profits first and the rights and well being of people last, we can expect more of the same.
Whether fighting to end the war, for single-payer health care or for civil rights, the most effective struggles will be waged in the streets, not at the ballot box or in the courtroom.
Noah Callagan and Nate Punswick, Madison, Wis.
