The below link no longer works, but here's one on that's relevant: http://www.centralmaine.com/news/stories/030110lewiston.shtml >Police in Lewiston said many streets surrounding Bates College and the >National Guard armory will be closed to traffic for security reasons on >Saturday. Random searches are promised at both rallies and police say they >will not allow weapons, cameras or recording equipment, backpacks or bags, >picket signs or face masks. Cases like these often are the most vexing. Yes, perhaps the ACLU can sue and get attorney's fees. But that may not have enough of a deterrent effect -- the politicians and police who are involved in these unlawful activities don't pay the price themselves. We need a better way to decrease their incentives to do the wrong thing. -Declan --- From: "Meeks, Brock (MSNBCi)" <Brock.Meeksat_private> To: "'declanat_private'" <declanat_private> Subject: Lewiston, Maine overturns First Amendment Date: Fri, 10 Jan 2003 10:25:24 -0800 On the eve of a meeting by the white supremacist World Church of the Creator, the city of Lewiston, Maine is taking dumbfounding steps to insure "safety" for all in what anticipates will apparently be a potentially flash-fire protest. "Police plan to keep weapons or things that could be used as weapons out of both rallies," says a newspaper Sun-Journal newspaper article. "That includes pepper spray, sharp objects, pickets or sticks for signs, face masks or hoods that could be used to hide a person's identity." Now "face masks" are a "weapon"? Also banned: "offensive" protest signs! "Anything offensive, so offensive that it invites a reaction, we're trying to keep those out," city administrator Jim Bennett is quoted saying. Oh, but that's not all, just to be sure that no record is kept of the real-time torching of the First Amendment, Bennett also plans to ban all cameras, audio and video recorders. "Some cameras can easily be used as weapons themselves," Bennett said. "But it's more clear they could be used to hide more threatening weapons, like chemical agents." Here's the whole story: <http://www.sunjournal.com/story.asp?slg=011003skurity>http://www.sunjournal.com/story.asp?slg=011003skurity ------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if you include this notice. To subscribe to Politech: http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ Declan McCullagh's photographs are at http://www.mccullagh.org/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Like Politech? Make a donation here: http://www.politechbot.com/donate/ Recent CNET News.com articles: http://news.search.com/search?q=declan -------------------------------------------------------------------------
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