I stole this photo from City Weekly.
Yes it does. But the Occupy Wall Streeters who were aghast this week at the audacity of police and city leaders who finally decided to enforce no-camping ordinances appear to be as confused as many a Tea Partier about the sovereignty of the Constitution.
Does that 220-year-old document (and its myriad amendments) supersede every last state and municipal law in the nation? Sure does.
But here's the thing: There's this thing called the Judicial Branch. It’s charged with interpreting our laws, including the Constitution. And in cases where there is some question whether our laws are Constitutional, it has the final say.
And that’s a good thing, because the Constitution was written a really long time ago. As you might imagine, some things have changed since then. For instance, nowadays owning slaves is a really big no-no.
You with me so far? Great, because here’s where things get really interesting: As it turns out, none of our founding fathers owned a nylon pup tent. So there’s no way they could have predicted that, some day, people would want to camp out in a city park to protest corporate greed. And as such, they didn’t include impromptu tent cities in the First Amendment.
And that’s a good thing, because the Constitution was written a really long time ago. As you might imagine, some things have changed since then. For instance, nowadays owning slaves is a really big no-no.
You with me so far? Great, because here’s where things get really interesting: As it turns out, none of our founding fathers owned a nylon pup tent. So there’s no way they could have predicted that, some day, people would want to camp out in a city park to protest corporate greed. And as such, they didn’t include impromptu tent cities in the First Amendment.
Personally, I think that was a really big oversight on their part, but nobody’s perfect.
And in any case, they gave us the judiciary. And as it turns out the courts have decided, over the past few centuries, that the exercise of free speech is subject to reasonable restrictions on time, place and manner. That’s why, even though there’s a probably a public sidewalk in front of your house, I can’t go over there tonight with a bullhorn and stage a protest against you.
And in any case, they gave us the judiciary. And as it turns out the courts have decided, over the past few centuries, that the exercise of free speech is subject to reasonable restrictions on time, place and manner. That’s why, even though there’s a probably a public sidewalk in front of your house, I can’t go over there tonight with a bullhorn and stage a protest against you.
That would be mean. And it would violate a bunch of city ordinances that in no way violate the Constitution.
Make sense?
The real irony of the camp-out protests in Salt Lake City, Oakland and New York is that they have gone on for as long as they have precisely because public sentiment in those places is sympathetic to, if not overtly supportive of, the “Occupy” message. Here in Salt Lake City, for instance, the man behind the sweep that cleared out the month-old camp at Pioneer Park is a gangly dude named Chris Burbank. And while I’ve had my share of disagreements with Chief Burbank, you are unlikely to find any law enforcement officer more Constitutionally minded than he is. This is a guy, after all, who told the Utah Legislature to shove its anti-illegal immigration laws up its big, fat collective ass because he didn’t believe those laws were legally enforceable.
Burbank — and, by extension the very progressive mayor under whom he serves — didn’t shut down the Pioneer Park camp because they disagreed with the protesters’ message (as it turns out, that would be unconstitutional — even if the city does have laws against camping in the park.) Rather, the shutdown was ordered because city leaders determined (perhaps too late) that the camp presented a health and safety threat to its occupants.
Are those time, place and manner restrictions reasonable? Perhaps one day the judiciary might be called to decide that question specifically. But for now there appears to be little serious debate over decisions by city leaders, across the nation, to finally enforce no-camping ordinances while continuing to permit the free exercise of speech and assembly on city property.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to see a man about a bullhorn.
