Blog Post #3

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BLM Protest Rights... Protected or Unprotected

    As discussed in class, there are 6 clauses of the 1st amendment. These six clauses include:

1. Freedom FROM Religion- meaning the government cannot do anything that seems like it is establishing a religion.
2. Freedom OF Religion- meaning everyone is free to practice whatever religion they want.
3. Freedom of Speech
4. Freedom of the Press
5. Freedom to Peaceable Assembly
6. Freedom to Petition the government for a redress of grievances


    This freedom of speech is not always absolute. There is a division between speech and action ("incitement"). Speech is protected by the first amendment whereas action is unprotected. This division is not always clear cut because in some cases, somebody's words may not be considered speech and instead be considered an action. Another reason why the division is not so clear cut is that some actions can be moved over to the protected category. This is seen when something is done that would be considered as speech like expressive action. Expressive action is an action that is intended to convey an expression and message to an audience. 

    Lately, there has been major controversy involving the Black Lives Matter Protests. One spark of this controversy concerns the protestor's and reporter's freedom of speech. The division must be clear on whether or not these protests are considered protected or unprotected action. Peaceable assembly is protected under the first amendment and is considered expressive action, however, some argue that these protests have gone beyond that line of being peaceable. 



https://wdet.org/posts/2021/01/26/90553-detroit-city-council-approves-funding-for-counter-lawsuit-against-black-lives-matter-protesters/

    The link above is an article that describes a situation where the line of protected and unprotected action is not clear cut. The protestors of the "Detroit Will Breathe movement" sued the city and claimed that the Detriot Police Department used "excessive force to stop demonstrators from exercising their First Amendment rights". The outcome of this was a federal judge filing a "restraining order against the DPD's use of rubber bullets, chokehold, and tear gas against peaceful protestors". There was also controversy when it came to the excessive amount of criminal charges brought against protestors. After the killing of George Floyd, more than 400 people were arrested. This brought out the issue of a lack of evidence that was continuing to threaten 1st amendment rights. 



This question of whether or not these protestors are losing their right to their freedom of speech is a topical issue right now. Under the first amendment, anyone has the freedom to peaceable assembly and speech. As discussed before, freedom of speech is split into protected and unprotected. Ultimately, if these Black Lives Matter protests remain peaceable and show expressive action, there should be nothing that could take their rights to freedom of speech away. The issues start to arise when some protestors or police create chaos that turns into something that would not be considered peaceable. 

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