Arizona Law Would Preempt Public Protests

I have written many times already that Republicans, in many ways, have given up on democracy. And sometimes you really have to wonder if they even know or understand the Constitution. In Arizona, the State Senate approved a bill that would extend the current racketeering laws to cover people who organize or engage in public protests.

If made law, it would mean that organizers and participants in a public protest that results in a riot could be prosecuted for criminal racketeering. The organizers could be liable even if they were not even physically at the protest. In addition, the bill allows for persons charged under this law to have their assets seized. Organizers and protesters could be arrested simply if law enforcement feels a riot might break out, either while the protest was occurring or even before it had begun. Organizers and protesters would also be subject to arrest even if it was proven that an opposition group started the riot.

Of course, many people have different idea about what constitutes a riot, which will allow this law to be horribly abused. And the preemptive arrests are even more frightening. The effects on free speech and free assembly are simply chilling. What organization can potentially expose itself to bankruptcy through asset forfeiture by organizing a protest. What individuals can afford to expose themselves to bankruptcy be participating in a protest.

Of course, if this bill passes the Arizona House and gets signed into law, the court cases will begin. The Republicans who pushed this bill through on  party line vote believe this bill is necessary to crack down on all those professional provocateurs that are seemingly showing up all over the country. Most people know them as concerned citizens.

When you see a bill like this that has the ability to crush peaceful protest as effectively as Putin’s Russia as well as ICE agents going into a hospital to detain an undocumented immigrant who is there for cancer treatment or people getting off a plane from San Francisco to JFK not being allowed to debark without “showing their papers”, you really have to wonder what country we are living in these days. There is more than a hint of fascism in the air. It is becoming a reality on the ground.