Last Wednesday, Lux Claridge planned to speak out against a proposed 1,000 acre data center in their town of Emporia, Kansas. They left in handcuffs after a city commissioner ordered them arrested for clapping.
Last Wednesday, Lux Claridge planned to speak out against a proposed 1,000 acre data center in their town of Emporia, Kansas. They left in handcuffs after a city commissioner ordered them arrested for clapping.
I agree that what happened goes against the spirit of the law and free speech. But I do think that the government is allowed to limit speech to an appropriate time and place.
People can still express their opinion by loudly protesting outside, posting online or placing an ad in the paper, etc. They’re just not allowed to express it in a place and a manner that interrupts elected officials when they’re doing their job.
Do you feel free speech should be so strongly protected that people are allowed to prevent the government from functioning? Because that’s why the no noise rule exists. I think that rule was abused in this case, but it does make sense to me.
Correct, they can limit free speech in the ways that the Supreme Court has told them they can. Clapping does not meet the standard.
Convenient and non-disruptive protest has a time and place. The US is far beyond a time and place where it is useful, though. When the government is blatantly out of control, even at the local level, the people are within their right to escalate. I’m a leftist, and I believe in actual freedom and the power of the people, not a lib who’s afraid to stray too far from the center in case someone cries about being uncomfortable when we’re talking about government overreach.
This person was “inconvenient”? That fucking sucks. Welcome to government work, suck it up or resign to make room for someone more capable of taking criticism and putting their pride away for the good of the community. The people don’t want a data center, it doesn’t matter that the city council does.
I suspect that might be a valid legal opinion, but I have my doubts whether there is enough precedence to make it a legal fact. But IANAL, so I don’t really have an argument, nor does my opinion hold a lot of weight.