CALIFORNIA CRIMINAL LAWYERS

Los Angeles Unlawful Assembly

Philosophical Organizations and Unlawful Assembly: Protecting Free Speech

In our society today, it is common for various organizations to express their views publicly, whether for animal rights or religious beliefs. However, some organizations have caused disorderly and unsafe conduct. The Westboro Baptist Church is an example of a group that promotes a judgmental and unsafe attitude toward those they disagree with, which is unacceptable.

The line between the First Amendment’s right to Free Speech and Unlawful Assembly seems unclear to some, depending on their political biases. A significant example is when a pro-life group pickets a Planned Parenthood building, which a representative of the organization may consider as an example of unlawful assembly. Similarly, an atheist disrupting the young-earth creationist museum owned by a Fundamentalist group is also deemed unacceptable.

How do we address this divide? Our founding fathers guaranteed that all groups, regardless of their philosophy, have the right to “peacefully assemble and petition the government for grievances.” The keywords in the First Amendment are peacefully and government. Groups that do not act peacefully lose their constitutional guarantee of protection for their rallies. For example, many political rallies are known to be chaotic and noisy events, thus giving legal scholars a reason to consider them not having the right to assemble as guaranteed by the constitution. The same goes for unions picketing on company property. They lose the rights guaranteed to protestors under the constitution if they do not act peacefully. While popular opinion tends to be lenient on philosophical groups that the public likes, it goes against the requirement of the 1st Amendment that protested organizations must be governmental in nature.

Human nature naturally gravitates towards the regulation of the speech of any groups one disagrees with or dislikes personally. This phenomenon is why blacks serve longer prison terms than whites for committing the same crime. Successful individuals often utilize their position of influence and authority in their culture to define acceptable conduct. This phenomenon leads to conflicts with individuals that disagree with our viewpoint of what’s right and wrong. It is essential to ensure that all groups acting peacefully are protected in our organizations.

In a major city such as Los Angeles, it is critical to determining what constitutes Unlawful Assembly. The following are examples of Unlawful Assembly:
1. Loud and violent yelling at individuals who hold different views.
2. Disrupting the safety and property of individuals or organizations.
3. Identifying a specific private organization as a target for a protest. Government-funded organizations can be targeted according to the 1st Amendment. However, non-governmental organizations cannot be.

Sadly, we have seen cases where people in positions of power in the US Government use their authority over the IRS to target groups they disagree with, even in recent times such as in 2013. This must stop. While it is tempting to use power to eliminate opposing viewpoints, this sets a precedent for continued progress towards Soviet-style controls on free speech. It is crucial to protect the rights of all individuals and organizations to exercise free speech, even if they have disagreeable viewpoints.