The Feld-Blog

The Protest is a dying art - not because citizens around the world have forgotton how to speak out, but because government has forgotten how to listen. After the right to vote, the right to free speech is perhaps the next most essential right of citizens in a free democracy. But governments seem to ignore protesters entirely or merely brush them aside.

This week, Police arrested a group of 24 'grannies' who entered a military recruiters office to sign up. When a Fallun Gong protester screamed at Bush and Hu Jintao at the state welcome, she went completely ignored. Police also arrested 3 Stanford students for peacefully protesting President Bush's meeting at the Hoover institution on campus. They stood in the road (on private property) and were haulled away by police in riot gear. See the video here. But at least we are only needlessly arresting our citizens. Egyptian police arrested and beat their citizens for suporting judges who are standing trial for objecting that the executive branch is the sole watchdog for electoral corruption.

I've complained before that declaring an undefined category of "enemy combatants" and holding Americans and foreigners without benefit charge or trial is remarkably unconstitutional. It is an abuse of executive power, as is arresting people for convenience. But how do we solve this problem? Granted, unwarrented arrests are nothing compared to the plight of enemy combatants, or the vicitms of police riots in Egypt, but the fact remains - in the abscence of a Judiciary willing to stand up and fight for citizen's rights, executive abuses of power, both small and large, go unchecked.

American Police officers are doing better than Egyptian officers or Chinese government, but a growing American sentiment that condones arresting peaceful protestors is more than a little bit disconcerting. It is not ok to arrest protesters just to try and silence them. Americans have the right to speak out without being thrown in jail. And at a 32% approval rating, maybe Bush could benefit from some of the things these people have to say

FRIDAY APRIL 28TH -- Speaking of Protests...
Five Members of Congress publicly protest the genocide in Darfur. They were arrested.