fold

My neighbors told me the agents who had come
to our building said that they were investigating
a “domestic

terrorism” situation.

Upon hearing this I felt shocked, then sickened.
This was the beginning of the most
frightening and painful days of my life...
What I didn't expect was what
[my husband] was facing,

what we were all facing.
During the hearing, the prosecution uttered
three words that made my heart stop —

“Life in prison.”
Government
JENNY SYNAN
Wife of activist Daniel McGowan
May 20, 2007

Tactics
That
Suppress
Free Speech

N at i o n a l L a w y e r s G u i l d
132 Nassau Street, #922
New York, NY 10038
www.nlg.org

HEIDI
BOGHOSIAN
a n d t h e N at i o n a l L a w y e r s G u i l d

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Punishing Protest

Government Tactics that Suppress Free Speech

Punishing Protest
Government Tactics that Suppress Free Speech

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Punishing Protest

Punishing Protest
Government Tactics that Suppress Free Speech
By Heidi Boghosian
Research and writing assistance: Greer Feick
Editing: Rachel Coen, Devon Kearney, and Erica Smith
Special thanks to Cecilia Amrute, Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, Ian Head, Michel Martinez,
Sherm Sitrin, and Zachary Wolf
© 2007, National Lawyers Guild
Marjorie Cohn, President • Judy Somberg and Paul Gattone, Executive Vice Presidents
Teague Briscoe, Student Vice President • Roxana Orrell, Treasurer
This report was made possible through the generous support of the CS Fund and the Maverick
Lloyd Foundation.
A copy of this report is available for download at www.nlg.org
Cover design: Pat Burton
Cover photo: Fred Askew
Layout: Ian Head

Government Tactics that Suppress Free Speech

Table of Contents

Introduction
Protest—A Maligned Tradition
Police Violence Aimed at Protesters .............................................2
Journalists Not Exempt from Assault and Arrests ........................3
Normalizing Police Violence: The Power of
Negative Media Depictions ..........................................................5
Post-Protest Reporting ..................................................................8
A Proud History of Civil Disobedience ........................................9

Applying the “Terrorist” Label to Activists
Domestic Terrorism Defined .......................................................12
How Environmental and Animal Rights Activists
Became the Top Terrorism Priority .............................................12
Federal Legislation Aimed at Activists—The Animal
Enterprise Terrorism Act .............................................................14
State Legislation Aimed at Activists ...........................................16
The SHAC 7................................................................................17
Operation Backfire and Grand Jury Roundups ...........................21

A Catalogue of Unlawful Government Tactics
Content-Based Exercise of Discretion in Issuing Permits ..........23
Paying for Permits and Liability Insurance ................................25
Pretextual Searches and Raids of Organizing Spaces ................26
Using the Charge of Conspiracy to Prosecute

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Political Activists ........................................................................27
Checkpoints and Metal Detectors ...............................................28
Free-Speech Zones ......................................................................29
Pop-Up Police Lines ...................................................................30
Mass False Arrests and Detentions .............................................31
Snatch Squads .............................................................................32
Containment Pens .......................................................................32
The Rush Tactic and Flanking and Using
Vehicles as Weapons ...................................................................35
Crowd Control Using Less-Lethal Weapons ..............................36
Unprecedented and Unconstitutional Bails for
Perceived Leaders .......................................................................38
Intimidation by FBI Questioning and Grand Jury Subpoena .....39

Police Lies, Tampering, and Videotape
I-Witness Video...........................................................................46
Discovering the Tampering—The Dennis Kyne Arrest ..............46
The Alexander Dunlop Arrest .....................................................47
Damaging the Integrity of the Criminal Justice System .............48
Members of Congress Call for Investigation ..............................50

Court Settlements and Decrees to Protect Free Speech
and Political Activity
Washington, D.C....................................................................................53

Los Angeles, California ..............................................................54
Albuquerque, New Mexico .........................................................55
Oakland, California .....................................................................57
Denver, Colorado ........................................................................58
Columbus, Georgia .....................................................................58
Governmental Reversals of Constitutional Gains .......................59
The Handschu Consent Decree in New York City......................59
Chicago’s Red Squad Consent Decree........................................61
Detroit, Michigan ........................................................................62
Portland, Oregon .........................................................................62

Case Study: Bicyclists Under Fire
Police Abuse of Bicyclists ..........................................................66
More Police Perjury and Assaults ...............................................67
Police Department Proposes Parade Regulations .......................68

Government Tactics that Suppress Free Speech

Infiltration and Surveillance........................................................70
Police Hostility Around the Country ..........................................70
FreeWheels Support for Bicyclists .............................................71
An Onerous Parade Permit Law .................................................71
New York City Police Department Enacts
Burdensome Parade Regulations ................................................72
Assemble For Rights NYC .........................................................73

A Brief History of the National Lawyers Guild
Conclusion
Notes

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Police at an anti-war demonstration on February 15, 2003 in New York City.
PHOTO: HEIDI BOGHOSIAN

Government Tactics that Suppress Free Speech

i

Introduction

T

he idea that citizens are free to dissent is ingrained in the American mythos,
a concept even older than the Declaration of Independence itself. Equally
important in this value system is the conviction that no nation state can
survive as a democracy unless it safeguards political expression and activity.
Where does the right to dissent stand today? Throughout our history, the foundation
on which dissent stands has shifted, becoming stronger or weaker in relation to a
host of political and social contingencies. Today, this most fundamental democratic
right is under attack. The government has exploited public fears of terrorist violence,
aggravated by its own scare tactics, to enact changes to law enforcement and to
crack down on a host of forms of protest and free speech. Such government tactics
compel individuals into surrendering their rights.
For example, since the 1999 World Trade Organization protests in Seattle, law
enforcement has aggressively used a range of tactics to intimidate protesters and
to silence lawful expressions of dissent in the United States. In 2004 the National
Lawyers Guild issued the report, The Assault on Free Speech, Public Assembly,
and Dissent, cataloguing these tactics. One is unwarranted collective punishment of
individuals who peacefully exercise their First Amendment rights. Police routinely
make unfounded mass arrests and detentions to keep people off the streets and out
of the eye of the media. Another trend is police-initiated violence at demonstrations,
notably the use of so-called less-lethal weapons against peaceful protesters. Despite
their name, such weapons—among them chemical sprays, impact projectiles, and
electroshock weapons—are often associated with fatalities. This police practice has
been acknowledged and condemned by several independent panels investigating
police actions, and by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights.1
Regardless of condemnations by investigatory commissions, when the press
reports on protests it devotes little coverage to continuing police misconduct and
the excessive and unnecessary use of force. Rather, the visual images and written
words rely on stereotypes to describe protesters as “anarchists,” “extremists,” and
“radicals.” Such depictions affect the way others perceive protesters and often
deter people from participating in pre-planned events because of concern over the
potential for confrontation or even violence.
Negative media portrayals of protesters, and protest in general, pave the way for
a broad hierarchy of threats to the First Amendment. On one level, police are
arresting demonstrators and others without probable cause and then committing
perjury and altering evidence that would otherwise both exculpate those arrested
and reveal patterns of gross police misconduct. Such actions can be ruinous to the

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arrestees who are forced through the court system, often at great personal expense
and inconvenience. And such actions are detrimental to the integrity of the criminal
justice system and corrosive to public confidence that the system works.

At the top of the hierarchy, the Justice Department is
routinely applying the emotion-laden designation of
“terrorist” to activists in order to intimidate them, to
levy higher charges and penalties against them, and
arguably to influence the outcome of trials.
At the next level, local and state governments show disdain for free speech by
passing legislation punishing certain offenses more severely if committed for
political reasons. For example, the New York Police Department enacted regulations
clearly aimed at bicycle activists who ride as a group once a month through the city
streets. At the same time, many cities and states are loosening or even removing
decades-old restrictions on police spying on political activists. These restrictions
were originally enacted after it became clear that law enforcement, from municipal
police to the FBI, was being used as a tool to persecute political dissidents.2
At the top of the hierarchy, the Justice Department is routinely applying the emotionladen designation of “terrorist” to activists in order to intimidate them, to levy
higher charges and penalties against them, and arguably to influence the outcome
of trials. The FBI is issuing subpoenas to activists to testify in front of grand juries
in an unlawful attempt to engage in political intelligence gathering. Environmental
activists are now the Justice Department’s primary target, called “domestic
terrorists” for acts of civil disobedience aimed at drawing attention to spoilage of the
environment. Animal rights activists are also being targeted, evidenced by the recent
passage of the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, a law that treats as terrorism certain
activities—many protected by the First Amendment—if committed on behalf of
animal rights. Moreover, federal and local legislation is being enacted that punishes
crimes more seriously if committed to protest governmental policies or corporate
practices that benefit government. These highly-coordinated federal tactics are
unrelated to legitimate law enforcement efforts.
Incentives for Targeting Domestic Activists?
Federal law enforcement is facilitating the persecution of activists by local
police. After September 11, both the Departments of Justice and Homeland
Security devoted over 500 million dollars to bolstering local and state intelligence
operations.3 Many communities across the country have applied for and received
generous federal counterterrorism grants. To qualify for the federal grants,
the Department of Homeland Security requires states to create strategic plans

Government Tactics that Suppress Free Speech

iii

with statistics on the number of “potential threat elements” in their state.4 The
Department’s definition of such “threat elements” is so broad—groups or individuals
who might use force “to intimidate or coerce” with a “possibly political or social”
goal—that they could be easily read to encompass activists. That seems to be what
has happened.
For example, a U.S. News & World Report inquiry found that “federal officials have
funneled hundreds of millions of dollars into once discredited state and local police
intelligence operations.”5 As a result, as David E. Kaplan wrote in U.S. News, police
are devoting great time and money to following ordinary Americans: “U.S. News
has identified nearly a dozen cases in which city and county police, in the name of
homeland security, have surveilled or harassed animal rights and antiwar protesters,
union activists, and even library patrons surfing the Web.”6
One thing is certain: the government is targeting individuals based on political
affiliation with the same sense of urgency, and using the same tools, traditionally
employed to target gangs and “terrorist groups,” and is doing so with a high rate
of misinformation. In 2003 the Justice Department exempted the National Crime
Information Center (NCIC) database from the Privacy Act requirements saying that
“it is impossible to determine in advance what information is accurate, relevant,
timely and complete.”7 And the Office of the Inspector General in its June 2005
Audit Report said that the Terrorist Screening Center could not ensure completeness
or accuracy of its information, finding instances in which the database both omitted
names that should have been on it and included inaccurate data on persons listed in
the database.8
For example, a file created in 1995 to track individuals associated with gangs and
terrorist organizations now includes domestic activists. The Violent Gang and
Terrorist Organization File (VGTOF) is a component of the Terrorist Screening
Center. It is also queried by local, state and federal law enforcement officers
because it is part of the NCIC,9 and includes records of individuals of interest to law

COSTLY TECHNOLOGY FAILURES
In an effort to improve coordination of intelligence, the federal government has expended millions of dollars to link law enforcement
databases on the state and local levels. Despite the investment of this
significant amount of money, the many information systems still cannot
communicate with one another. Some efforts have even failed completely, such as the Matrix system that used data mining technology and
that was terminated in 2005 due to privacy concerns.

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enforcement due to suspected or known ties to international or domestic terrorism.10
Among other information, the VGTOF now includes names of individuals with no
criminal history who are being investigated as being politically active or connected
with politically active organizations. A 2002 FBI memo stated that the file will
include, among others, “Anarchists, Animal Rights Extremists, Environmental
Extremists, and domestic extremists.”11 Officials never have to justify the decision
to place someone on the list, a list that can be accessed by virtually every law
enforcement official with whom the person comes into contact, even during a routine
traffic stop. The VGTOF contains a high rate of error.12

The Supreme Court has unambiguously rejected
claims that the president has inherent power to
engage in spying on his critics. In establishing this
principle over thirty years ago, in United States v.
United States District Court, the Court rejected the
Nixon Administration’s claim of “inherent power”
for the president.
Setting the standard for this hierarchy of threats to the First Amendment is the
President of the United States. The decision by President George W. Bush to
authorize warrantless spying on Americans stands as the supreme example of
government disregard for the First and Fourth Amendments, as well as for the rule
of law. The Supreme Court has unambiguously rejected claims that the president
has inherent power to engage in spying on his critics. In establishing this principle
over thirty years ago, in United States v. United States District Court,13 the Court
rejected the Nixon Administration’s claim of “inherent power” for the president. In a
unanimous opinion, Justice Powell, a Nixon appointee, wrote in concurrence in that
case:
That ‘domestic security’ is said to be involved here does not
draw this case outside the mainstream of Fourth Amendment
law. Rather, the recurring desire of reigning officials to employ
dragnet techniques to intimidate their critics lies at the core of that
prohibition. For it was such excesses as the use of general warrants
and the writs of assistance that led to the ratification of the Fourth
Amendment.14
Current presidential excesses render this decision all the more timely. Three decades
later, the Bush administration employs unlawful dragnet techniques to intimidate
critics, under the guise of national security, as did the Nixon administration. Current
government spying patently contravenes the Foreign Intelligence Security Act,

Government Tactics that Suppress Free Speech

v

Hierarchy of Government Attacks to the
First Amendment
Chilling Free Speech in the Streets
● Arresting demonstrators en masse without probable cause
● Using so-called less-lethal munitions against passive protesters
● Altering evidence or committing perjury about false arrests and
police-initiated violence
Chilling Free Speech at the City and State Levels
● Regulations aimed at bicycle activists in NYC
● State legislation, punishing actions more severely if motivated by a
particular ideology
● Loosening or removing restrictions (consent decrees) on police
spying on activists
Chilling Free Speech at the Federal Level
● Government surveillance and data gathering on Americans based on
political ideology
● Terrorist sentencing enhancements for activists convicted of property crimes
● Federal legislation (Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act), and related
state legislation, punishing actions more severely if motivated by a
particular ideology
● Using grand juries to gather evidence of political affiliations and
other personal information
● Threatening harsh prison sentences to intimidate activists to inform
on others

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enacted to allow monitoring of unlawful foreign agent activities while protecting
the civil liberties of Americans after the FBI’s COINTELPRO.15 Further leaks have
hinted at other practices that undermine free expression and privacy rights, such as
tracking and recording millions of telephone calls and e-mails, disclosing telephone
and airline customer information, and demanding financial information from United
States banks.16 Knowing that communications may be secretly monitored has an allpervasive and chilling effect on free speech. It is this chilling effect that the First and
Fourth Amendments were designed to avoid.
In examining these multi-level government abuses, an unsettling snapshot emerges
of the Bush Administration’s agenda to sidestep these constitutional protections and
to criminalize dissent.

Government Tactics that Suppress Free Speech

1

Protest—A Maligned Tradition
“Welcome to Miami motherf----r, this is what you get when you f--- with us,” is
what one of them said to me as the van pulled off. I was handcuffed behind my back
and laid out on my stomach; my feet dangled out the back of the van—there wasn’t
enough room with all the cops. The police officers gave each other high-fives and
proceeded to drive around looking for another Legal Observer, all the while arguing
whether they could fit her in the back of the van with me.
Minutes earlier, three of the cops had jumped out of the white nondescript van and
attacked me. They were all wearing ski masks and dressed as anarchist black bloc
protesters. I threw up my hands and offered no resistance. They punched me and I
fell to the ground and attempted to protect myself. They kept punching me, kicking
me, and then they dragged me into the back of the van. They told my two friends to
get the f--- out of there or they would get it too. They eventually took me to a small
windowless room in the police station where they proceeded to interrogate me about
my political affiliations, schooling, and friends. They never took off their ski masks.
The moment that white van pulled up next to me, my stomach dropped. I knew
exactly what was coming. When they had me in the back of the van, I laughed a
little bit. Were they serious? Complete panic and fear then set in because they
were, indeed, serious. They threatened to kill me. Looking back, it was all very
surreal and so very absurd.
Today, when I relate the story to other people and listen to their reaction. They
usually respond with “I had no idea,” or “How could this happen in the United
States?” The truth is that it did happen because this government is scared. That is
what this whole experience has made me realize. Our organizing in the streets and
in the courts is a threat to this government, otherwise they would not pay us so much
attention. Ultimately, that realization has strengthened my resolve to keep fighting.

T

– Miles Swanson, Legal Observer at the FTAA
meeting in Miami, 2003

he word “protest” has a negative connotation in the mass media. Although
most significant social movements have used protest to propel their issues
into the public’s consciousness, as a form of political process protest is
largely viewed as problematic at the time it occurs.17 Those who participate in
acts of protest are frequently depicted as deviants, lawbreakers, or the “other.”
When pictures of protests appear in the press, more often than not they focus on
confrontation with police in an effort to suggest that protest is criminal.

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In hindsight, victories gained through protest are often viewed much more
favorably, such as Martin Luther King’s 1963 March on Washington. Several trends
serve to reinforce a negative image of protest and to discourage it: the negative
media depiction of protesters, the institutionalized use of disproportionate police
force against peaceful assemblers, and the levying of higher penalties for minor
infractions, to name a few.
One sociologist, Brian Martin, explains the negative portrayal of protest, and
protesters, thus: most forms of protest are considered threatening when the
theoretically less powerful members of society—women, low-income people,
persons of color—ask the state to take some form of action.18 The more powerful,
authoritarian groups generally hold that problems with their social structure are
better left to the experts.19 Martin writes: “To many people, protesters have a bad
image: the rabble in the streets. Although the vast majority of protest activity in
liberal democracies is nonviolent in reality and intent, an aura of actual or potential
violence commonly accompanies media presentations and popular perceptions
of protest.”20
Martin says that negative portrayals of protests derive from an entrenched fear that
many people have of engaging in protest. Those few who do become involved are
labeled the “fringe” elements.21
Police Violence Aimed at Protesters
Police treatment of protesters reflects the negative light in which activists are
viewed. Deployment of police in riot paraphernalia and weaponry at mass
assemblies not only increases the chance of causing serious injuries and even
fatalities, but also changes the flavor of a protest and may actually incite violence.
In the words of Boston Police Superintendent James Claiborne, the Incident
Commander for all American League (baseball) Championship Series: “…if you
come in geared up for a fight you certainly will encounter a fight, whereas if you
come in with soft clothes, your regular everyday uniform, it’s just regular everyday
business.” He went on to cite experiences in Northern Ireland where they have
learned that “when officers come dressed in tactical equipment, it incites the crowds
and they almost always ended up with a major foray…. [T]he way the police officers
are attired has a lot to do with how people react to the police officers.”22
Use of less-lethal munitions accompanies an increased coordination among local
and federal law enforcement agencies, and even the military, including the National
Guard. This heightened level of interagency cooperation, with military force, is
reminiscent of the police response to civil disturbances in the 1960s and 1970s.
However, even then the government acknowledged that “the use of the armed forces
against a civilian population is an important symbolic act that raises the strongest
emotions; and it is a major terroristic objective to produce just such a reaction.”23

Government Tactics that Suppress Free Speech

3

By deploying the military, or military-type munitions, police send a highly visible
message to the public at large, and to protesters and would-be protesters, that
demonstrators’ lawful activities are likely to be violent and dealt with in much the
same manner as the government would respond to terrorists.

“[W]hen officers come dressed in tactical equipment,
it incites the crowds and they almost always ended up
with a major foray….[T]he way the police officers are
attired has a lot to do with how people
react to the police officers.”
- Boston Police Superintendent James Claiborne
Human rights organizations and civil liberties groups have condemned the use
of less-lethal munitions against the citizenry. Several commissions investigating
injuries and fatalities from such weapons have called for changes in the way they
are used, or for their complete abolition for use on domestic populations.24 The
commission investigating the death of Victoria Snelgrove, a student killed by an FN
303 projectile impact weapon after a Boston Red Sox game in 2004, recommended
the creation of national standards for certification of less-lethal weapons, as well as a
testing and evaluation program to provide national certification to weapons meeting
those standards.25
Journalists Not Exempt from Assault and Arrests
Journalists have also become a government target, especially on the occasions when
reporters try to present an objective view of events, such as instances of police
misconduct. In recent years, journalists reporting from political hot spots have faced
increasing levels of interference, including arrest and sometimes deadly violence.
Reporters were beaten by members of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Metro
Division at an immigration protest on May 1, 2007. Telemundo anchor Pedro Sevcec
was pushed to the ground with his cameras as he was broadcasting on live television
from a tent that Police Chief William J. Bratton acknowledged was “clearly [for
the] news media.”26 Another reporter for Telemundo, Carlos Botifoll, was hit by a
baton, and seven other news reporters and staff were injured: four from KVEA-TV,
one from KTTV-TV, a camerawoman (whose wrist was broken) and a reporter from
KPCC-FM radio. 27
In an April 20, 2007 letter to the New York Times, Athens Banner-Herald columnist
Ed Tant wrote that he was arrested while taking notes and photographing a peaceful

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226 DAYS IN JAIL:
Record for Longest Sentence Served by a Journalist
In 2006, independent video journalist and blogger Josh Wolf was jailed
for refusing to comply with a federal judge’s order to turn over his video
of a protest at the 2005 Group of Eight Summit to a federal grand jury
investigating the torching of a police car and the assault of an officer
during the protest. In February 2007, he broke the record in this country
for the longest sentence served by a journalist. The National Lawyers
Guild believes that the grand jury was improperly used to obtain materials which would normally be protected under California’s Reporter
Shield Law.
Jose Luis Fuentes, of the Oakland based firm Siegel & Yee, represented
Wolf on behalf of the National Lawyers Guild. In a June 8, 2006 press
release Fuentes said: “My client’s political activity and free speech activity in the Bay Area as a journalist and this subpoena, with its associated
threat of jail time for noncompliance, has an incredible chilling effect on
his and other journalist’s freedom to gather and disseminate information of groups who espouse dissident beliefs.”
On April 3, 2007, Wolf was released after reaching an agreement with
the United States Attorney’s office to submit raw footage from the 2005
protest. Wolf said that there is nothing of value on the tape. In addition
to securing his release from prison, Wolf did not have to testify before a
grand jury in the investigation.

demonstration in front of the New York Public Library during the 2004 Republican
National Convention. He described being trapped by New York City police officers
when they surrounded scores of protesters and bystanders in nets, in what he called
“a pretext for crushing dissent and silencing antiwar voices during convention
week.”28
A record number of journalists were killed or jailed in 2006, with at least 110
journalists killed, according to a 2007 annual survey of press freedom by Reporters
Without Borders (RWB).29 In addition, new dangers have emerged as the Internet has
become a key tool for activists: some countries are targeting Internet publications
and using technology to spy on and censor dissent often with help from U.S. firms.30
Congress has made little headway in regulating such actions. RWB recommends
“Internet neutrality” legislation to protect freedom of expression by requiring

Government Tactics that Suppress Free Speech

5

telecommunications companies to treat internet broadband content alike and to move
information at the same network speed, regardless of whether the customer is an
individual blogger or a major commercial website.31 The Senate, however, rejected
legislation to do that in February 2007.
Recent police interference with journalists has encouraged supporters of free press
to provide help to reporters. For example, during the 2004 Republican National
Convention in New York, attorneys from the firm Levine Sullivan Koch & Schulz,
working with the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, established
a 24-hour hotline for credentialed journalists covering the convention. Police
and other officials cooperated with hotline lawyers to minimize problems for
journalists arrested or detained during demonstrations or who were affected by other
disturbances that occurred during the convention.
Normalizing Police Violence: The Power of Negative Media Depictions
The media is an important factor in political protest, both in educating others
about the issues at hand and in attracting additional supporters.32 Generally, protest
movements begin with small numbers and in a condition of relative isolation.
Accurate and ongoing media coverage of such activities is essential to help attract
others with similar viewpoints so that the movement can grow. Indeed, this is one of
the reasons that mass actions are organized.
One of the first measures in silencing dissent is to deter people from attending
demonstrations altogether. The media plays a pivotal role in helping accomplish this
by depicting protesters as violent and showing striking images of weapon-bearing
police officers in riot gear well in advance of given events. As sociologist Daniel
Myers writes, “television has the ability to make the events it reports on more real
to the watchers by showing footage of actual rioting, damages, the behavior of the
police….These images can work to both agitate those who view them or to suppress
further action by showing the negative outcomes.”33
More often than not, news reports portray protesters as disrupters or deviants,
especially when their actions are aimed at holding corporations or politicians
accountable.34 In the late 1980s, researchers found that consistent negative media
portrayal of protesters in Minneapolis-St. Paul “unfairly prejudice[s] their audience
against the issues and ideas raised by protestors.”35 Other research shows how press
coverage of protest activities can actually increase public antagonism toward the
cause at issue.36 Coverage of mass demonstrations, when it happens, further distorts
the truth by frequently downplaying attendance numbers. Reporters either rely on
estimates of attendance provided by police or do not conduct independent research
to ascertain accurate counts.

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Punishing Protest

When events are reported on, the media focuses on any incident of protester
violence, even if it is an isolated act among thousands of peaceful protesters. Such
selected coverage emphasizes the exceptional instances of protester violence while
entirely discounting the more frequent use of violence by police. When protestors
occupied U.S. Congressional Representative Frank Riggs office in October 1997,
police subdued them with pepper spray. The encounter was captured on film and a
protester explained the reasons for the protest. The television news cut that portion
from the report.37 As well as demonstrating how activists’ messages can be silenced
or distorted in the media, such incomplete reports “normalize police violence against
protestors, which is dangerous for all involved in peaceful protest.”38
For example, the New York print media engaged in hyperbolic coverage months
before the 2004 Republican National Convention. The cover of the May 17, 2004
issue of New York magazine promoted companion articles, accompanied by a
photograph of a protester wrapped in a U.S. flag. One headline taunted: “Cops
to Protesters: Bring It On.”39 The other read: “The Circus is Coming to Town: A
Bush-hating nation of freaks, flash-mobbers, and civil-disobedients is gathering to
spoil the GOP’s party.”40 Nearly the entire front page of the July 12, 2004 edition
of the New York Daily News contained an exaggerated proclamation: “ANARCHY
THREAT TO CITY Cops fear hard-core lunatics plotting convention chaos.”41
Inside the paper, a two-page headline announced: “FURY AT ANARCHIST
CONVENTION THREAT. ‘These hard-core groups are looking to take us on. They
have increased their level of violence.’—Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly.”42
The Daily News reported how “Kelly and company have to combat a shadowy,
loose-knit band of traveling troublemakers who spread their guides to disruption
over the Internet.”43
Although the New York Daily News is a tabloid, and prone to sensational headlines,
it has the largest circulation and readership in the New York market.
Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, co-chair of the National Lawyers Guild’s Mass Defense
Committee, notes that in addition to chilling participation in protests, and justifying
harsh police tactics:
Such misleading news coverage is part of an effort to get the activists
and the legal community to buy into the police line that there are
‘good protestors’ and ‘bad protestors’ and therefore agree that there
is a real threat that then necessitates police response to protest. Take
action against the fictional bad protestors but don’t trample on the
rights of the ‘good’ kind of response, which diverts from those who
are the real violent actors over and over—the police.44
The media played a large role in shaping police treatment of protesters,
acknowledged an independent review panel investigating the actions of the Miami-

Government Tactics that Suppress Free Speech

7

Examples of hyperbolic news coverage before the 2004 Republican National Convention in New
York included this July 12, 2004 New York Daily News front page headline and story portraying
protesters as angry anarchists and even “lunatics.” FROM GUILD ARCHIVES.

Punishing Protest

8

Dade Police Department and the Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation
Department during the FTAA conference. In its September 2004 FTAA Inquiry
Report, the review panel wrote that “[m]edia coverage and police preparation
emphasized ‘anarchists, anarchists, anarchists’ and this contributed to a police
mindset to err, when in doubt, on the side of dramatic show of force to preempt
violence rather than being subject to criticism for avoidable injury and destruction
based on a reserved presence of police force.”45 In addition, the report found that
police were trained to address massive civil disturbance because “intelligence
indicated some groups might attempt to ‘violently disrupt the FTAA conference and
cause damage to both private and public property.’”46 The review panel found, in
fact, that there were no large disturbances.

Attorney Mara Verheyden-Hilliard notes that
“misleading news coverage is part of an effort to get
the activists and the legal community to buy into the
police line that there are ‘good protestors’ and ‘bad
protestors’ and therefore agree that there is a real
threat that then necessitates police response
to protest.”
In an extreme example of government overreaction to anticipated protests, Governor
Sonny Perdue of Georgia declared a state of emergency before the June 2004 Group
of Eight (G-8) summit on Sea Island. Prominent media coverage, both local and
national, was given to the Governor’s declaration. Perhaps not surprisingly, only a
few hundred protesters actually appeared, and the small number of arrests that took
place were mainly for blocking traffic.
Post-Protest Reporting
The mass media does not routinely provide coverage of domestic protest events.
When it does, reporters usually report extremely low estimates of attendance.
In a detailed study of 287 peace demonstrations across the United States on February
15, 2003, Yvonne Kimmons and Bryan Williams analyzed low and high attendance
estimates and then examined how the media reported on the events.47 They found
that:
● journalists fail to research accurate attendance numbers, or fail to mention
estimates entirely,
● college newspapers are generally doing a better job reporting on local antiwar
events than other local newspapers,

Government Tactics that Suppress Free Speech

9

● television reports are much more likely to underreport crowd sizes than print
media, and
● most print journalists report numbers as if there are “two sides”—police and
organizers—and fail to conduct their own counting or to explain how police
counted.
Kimmons and Williams mention the example of a CNN reporter in Los Angeles
reporting that she was in a crowd of 15,000, a number half the size of the police
estimate. “Not a single article we came across described the police methods of
counting crowds, while journalists often described the organizers’ counting methods.
Do the police have methods?”48
The researchers praised reporters Anne Saker and Molly Hennesy-Fiske of the
Raleigh News & Observer for including their own estimates by calculating the
number of people who passed by a point outside their newspaper building each
second, in addition to explaining how the organizers reached their own estimate
of 7,000.49
A Proud History of Civil Disobedience
As mentioned above, in retrospect notable mass demonstrations have been deemed
honorable actions. Similarly, many acts of civil disobedience have been considered
noble acts throughout United States history. National Lawyers Guild member Lauren
Regan, executive director of the Civil Liberties Defense Center (CLDC) in Eugene,
Oregon, explains that recent government targeting of environmental and animal
rights activists includes harsh penalties for actions (such as property destruction) that
have in the past been seen as acts of civil disobedience:
The incidents alleged in these indictments are acts of sabotage. Even
many of our famed historians have mentioned that acts of sabotage
were deemed a form of civil disobedience historically. This type
of sabotage has been used in resistance movements since the birth
of this nation’s democracy. For example, the Boston Tea Party in
1773 was probably one of the most famous examples of an act of
sabotage done for a noble purpose, the resistance of tyranny. In the
1850s there were a number of instances where anti-slavery activists
stole property, meaning slaves, and broke into police stations to steal
slaves escaping from their masters, due to the fugitive slave law of
1850. In many of those incidents, the defendants were acquitted by a
jury of their peers. Even though government and prosecutors deemed
them crimes, the laws of society deemed them to not be crimes. The
role of civil disobedience, of which sabotage is one such tactic, has
played a pivotal role in the formation of our democracy. Even

Punishing Protest

10

Thomas Jefferson said, ‘the spirit of resistance to government is so
valuable on certain occasions that I wish it to be always kept alive.’50
While leaders in government frequently revere the ideologically-prompted actions
of early civil disobedients, here and in other parts of the world, recent acts of
conscience have been met with disdain, and severe criminal sanctions.
Conclusion
Although the act of protest in this country has played an integral part in effecting
systemic social change, both protest and protesters evoke negative responses for
many. Acts of civil disobedience that have historically earned a mark of honor are
not only viewed in a negative light, but are also being recast as acts of “terrorism.”
Such negative perceptions are reinforced by coverage in the mass media. When
talking about the use of violence at protests or during mass demonstrations, the
media rarely focuses on the fact that police are the frequent instigators of violence
aimed at passive participants. There exists a natural bias on the part of both police
and the media to downplay the positive aspects of issue-oriented protests while
exaggerating negative portrayals of people taking to the streets to propel their
message into the social conscience.
The practice of using harmful, often lethal, munitions against peaceful protesters is
not only excessive and inappropriate, but it also inflames mass public assemblies.
Police know that they dramatically alter the tenor of a public event when they appear
attired in full riot gear often with horses, motorcycles, and even helicopters in
attendance. Despite the fact that significant injuries (including the death of Victoria
Snelgrove in Boston) have occurred as a result, and despite the findings of several
independent review commissions urging against the use of so-called less-lethal
weaponry, police continue to treat protesters as combatants in war. As long as this
occurs, protest will continue to be cast in a negative rather than as a constitutionallyprotected right.

Government Tactics that Suppress Free Speech

11

Applying the “Terrorist” Label to Activists
On December 7, 2005, I was sitting at my desk at work and received a phone call
I will never forget. I was told that Daniel had been handcuffed and taken away
by federal agents from his job. I instantly went into a panic. I had no idea what
was going on at the time, but I knew it was serious. That night I went home to an
apartment turned upside down, many of our personal things taken, our privacy
blatantly invaded. I went from room to room to survey the damage and take a
mental note of everything that was now missing. Both of our computers were taken,
some of my own personal things were taken that had nothing to do with Daniel—
photographs, audiotapes, bank statements, tax returns, medical records. All of
Daniel’s activist work was taken—fliers, magazines, paperwork, books. They pretty
much went through the whole place and just took whatever they wanted.
My neighbors told me the agents who had come to our building said that they were
investigating a ‘domestic terrorism’ situation. Upon hearing this I felt shocked, then
sickened. This was the beginning of the most frightening and painful days of my life.
The following day dozens of us anxiously poured into federal court in Brooklyn. The
only thing on my mind that day was that I needed to see Daniel and see that he was
OK. What I didn’t expect was what he was facing, what we were all facing. During
the hearing, the prosecution uttered three words that made my heart stop—”Life in
prison.” At that moment I honestly questioned whether what I was experiencing was
real. How could this be possible that this person I love, this person I share my life
with, may disappear from my life forever? More unbelievably, how could someone
being accused of property destruction face a potential life sentence and be called
a terrorist?

A

– Jenny Synan
Daniel McGowan’s wife
May 20, 2007

t a higher level of government, First Amendment protected activities are
chilled by applying the label of “terrorist” to activists. The government
started using this term shortly after launching its broad “war on terror”
after the criminal events of September 11. This labeling, when used by federal law
enforcement, is often a precursor to more repressive tactics, including the misuse
of grand juries to intimidate activists and to pressure them into informing on
others. Those who end up in this dragnet face the possibility of being charged with
conspiracy, which requires a low standard of evidence to convict, and frequently
results in harsher sentences than the underlying crime.51 If criminal charges are filed,

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labels like “terrorist” that play upon jurors’ fears may preclude the possibility of a
fair and just trial.
In addition, the stigma of serving a longer sentence under the federal sentencing
guidelines’ terrorism enhancement52 (which can add years to a sentence) is
enormously damaging and may haunt those released from prison for the rest of their
lives. They may be prohibited from opening a bank account and from traveling
outside the United States, not to mention having an even more difficult time than
others convicted of felonies in securing employment. Once labeled a terrorist,
regardless of the validity of the accusation, one is assumed to be, in Donald
Rumsfeld’s words, “the worst of the worst.”53
Domestic Terrorism Defined
The path was widened for broadening the definition of terrorism to include First
Amendment-protected activities with the passage of the USA PATRIOT Act in
the emotion-laden days following September 11, 2001. Section 802 of the Act
creates the federal crime of “domestic terrorism.”54 Defined in very broad terms, it
includes “acts dangerous to human life” that violate the criminal laws, if their goal
“appear[s] to be intended…to influence the policy of a government by intimidation
or coercion.”55 This expansive definition has given federal law enforcement great
latitude to conduct surveillance of activists and organizations that draw attention to
and challenge government policies, especially because the essence of protest is to
influence governmental policies.56
In addition to the broad language of the PATRIOT Act, many different definitions
of terrorism exist among government agencies. Some, such as the FBI definition,
include “violence against property,” which can lead to the criminalization of such
First Amendment activities as flyer distribution and “inundating computers.”57 In
contrast, both the State Department’s and the UN Security Council Resolution 1566
(2004), which helps codify international law concerning acts of terrorism, do not
include violence against property.58
How Environmental and Animal Rights Activists Became the Top
Terrorism Priority
Environmental and animal rights activists are considered by the United States
government to be a top domestic terrorism threat, largely due to the efforts of U.S.
Senator James Inhofe (R-OK), Chairman of the Environment and Public Works,
with the support of FBI Deputy Assistant Director John Lewis. Inhofe has stated
that the difficulties in prosecuting underground environmental activists means that
aboveground environmental organizations should be targeted for abetting their
work.59 On May 18, 2005, Inhofe addressed the Senate: “As a country, we must
not only condemn terrorism, but we must also condemn the support and acts in

Government Tactics that Suppress Free Speech

13

furtherance of terrorism. It is time to take a look at the culture and climate of support
for criminally based activism like ELF (Earth Liberation Front), and ALF (Animal
Liberation Front), and do something about it.”60
In response, the FBI launched an orchestrated campaign of issuing subpoenas,
conducting large-scale round-ups of activists, creating a climate of fear in which
Congress levies unprecedented penalties for property crimes, and uses threats of
severe sanctions to force individuals to turn state’s evidence. (Even the term “ecoterrorism” is believed to have been manufactured by a public relations firm working
with the government.)61
Groups having little mass support are targeted first because they are most vulnerable,
and curtailment of their rights is unlikely to trigger widespread social resistance.
However, once these groups have been successfully targeted, and once the legal and
psychological precedents have been established, the government may begin to use
these methods more broadly against the mainstream critics of the government.62
The discussion which follows will show how the government has identified a small
number of politically marginalized groups, mischaracterized their activities, and
is using laws intended for international terrorism to intimidate and suppress them.
Some of the actions punished constitute protected speech, and some constitute at
worst crimes of vandalism against property.
On April 13, 2006 the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued an
assessment of the eco-terrorist threat, highlighting tactics such as organizing
protests, flyer distribution, inundating computers with e-mails, tying up phone
lines to prevent legitimate calls, and sending continuous faxes to drain the ink
from company fax machines as primary corporate security concerns. The DHS
further claimed that “Attacks against corporations by animal rights extremists and
eco-terrorists are costly to the targeted company and, over time, can undermine
confidence in the economy.”63
Some believe that the government is changing the terminology from acts of civil
disobedience to acts of terrorism because they can show concrete results by arresting
domestic activists. Sociologist Tony Silvaggio says, “The government’s guilty-byassociation and divide-and conquer approach has really succeeded. They’ve targeted
this movement because it’s an easy target; Al Qaeda is…hard. They need to show the
American people that ‘There are terrorists out there, and we caught them.’”64 Several
civil liberties organizations have helped to expose the fact that the FBI engages
in warrantless and illicit surveillance programs against environmental activists.
For example, the ACLU forced the FBI to admit in 2005 that it had collected
over 2,400 pages of information on Greenpeace, an outspoken critic of the Bush
administration’s environmental policies.65

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Federal Legislation Aimed at Activists—The Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act
In a stealth move, late on Friday, November 10, 2006 the Animal Enterprise
Terrorism Act (HR 4239, S3880) was added to the House Suspension Calendar for
the following Monday, November 13. The Suspension Calendar is reserved for noncontroversial bills which are voted up or down by voice, and without discussion
and debate on the Senate floor.66 The legislation had been drafted in 2002 by the
Republican-based lobbyist group American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)
in association with the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance.67 Four years later, on November
27, 2006, the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA)68 became law.

“The government’s guilty-by-association and divideand-conquer approach has really succeeded. They’ve
targeted this movement because it’s an easy target;
Al Qaeda is…hard. They need to show the American
people that ‘There are terrorists out there,
and we caught them.’”
- Sociologist Tony Silvaggio
The AETA expands the Animal Enterprise Protection Act of 1992.69 Supporters say it
is meant to stem illegal actions taken against controversial animal enterprises, or any
company that does business with an animal enterprise. But its sweeping language
goes much further. The Act spells out penalties even if “(A) the offense results
in no economic damage or bodily injury; or (B) the offense results in economic
damage that does not exceed $10,000.” 70 The AETA could be read as making it a
crime to cause any business classified as an “animal enterprise” (e.g., factory farms,
fur farms, vivisection labs, rodeos and circuses) to suffer a profit loss—even if the
company’s financial decline is caused by peaceful protests.
Over 160 organizations, including the Natural Resources Defense Council, the New
York City Bar Association, and the National Lawyers Guild, opposed passage of the
AETA. Points of criticism include the following:
● The AETA appears to be a test case before targeting other political
movements. Animal rights activists tend to be one of the more marginalized
groups and vulnerable to selective prosecution.71 Enacting such legislation
sets a precedent for targeting other speech based on its content.
● It is unnecessary legislation because existing federal and state laws already
protect animal enterprise industries from criminal activity, and carry
sufficiently harsh penalties. Some of the criminal charges that may be

Government Tactics that Suppress Free Speech

15

brought include trespass to land, vandalism, property destruction and arson.
In addition, conspiracy, criminal mischief, riot, racketeering, theft, disorderly
conduct, and many other equivalents exist within each state.
● The AETA sets out harsher penalties for defendants seeking to convey
specific, disfavored viewpoints. While a variety of individuals and
organizations might protest corporate activities, those sitting in front of
a sweatshop to protest unfair labor practices will not be sanctioned (yet).
However, those sitting in front of a puppy mill (a kennel with substandard
conditions) in support of animal rights may be deemed domestic terrorists.
● With its broad language “interfering with operations of an animal
enterprise,” the AETA may violate the First Amendment. Such language can
be used to label as terrorism a wide range of lawful expressive conduct such
as protests, boycotts, public speeches, picketing, e-mail campaigns, media
campaigns, undercover investigations, and whistle-blowing.
● The AETA may likely deter people from advocating for reforms in the
treatment of animals and may also halt Internet organizing.
● Application of the term “terrorist” to certain groups may pressure individuals
into informing on innocent activists in order to avoid harsh sentences. It
exploits past tragedies and the current climate of fear, while providing a
diversion from effective investigative efforts.
Will Potter, a journalist who testified before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee on
AETA, said this is the greatest threat of the legislation. At GreenIsTheNewRed.com
he writes:
Even if we buy the rhetoric of industry groups and lawmakers that
this legislation won’t directly target First Amendment activity,
the damage is still done. This legislation will impact animal
activists, even if they never enter the courtroom. It will add to
the chilling effect that already exists because of ‘eco-terrorism’
rhetoric by corporations, lawmakers and law enforcement. Through
my interviews with grassroots animal rights activists, national
organizations, and their attorneys, I have heard widespread fears
that the word ‘terrorist’ could one day be turned against them, even
though they use legal tactics.
This legislation will add to this fear and distrust, and will force
Americans to decide if speaking up for animals is really worth
the risk of being labeled a ‘terrorist,’ either in the media or the
courtroom. That’s not a choice anyone should have to make.

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State Legislation Aimed at Activists
Several states have also passed legislation to limit the rights of environmental
activists, as well as animal-rights activists, often punishing crimes more severely if
it can be proven that they were committed for a political purpose. Courts in some
states have found the laws to be unconstitutional.
On April 14, 2006, Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell signed House Bill
213, which defines and adds acts of “eco-terrorism” to the state crime codes. Under
the bill, if someone commits a misdemeanor or second or third degree felony that
falls under the category of “eco-terrorism,” the offense is automatically considered
to be a degree higher than it otherwise would be. The bill also mandates that a
person convicted of “eco-terrorism” pay restitution to property owners—in some
cases up to triple the value of the original damaged property.
Utah passed House Bill 322 in March 2000. The Act created a special offense of
commercial terrorism and modified the criminal code in that state by enacting
provisions with enhanced penalties for offenses committed against animal

Testimony given by ACLU of Pennsylvania Legal Director
Larry Frankel Before the Senate Judiciary Committee,
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, June 6, 2005
In testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee in opposition to HB 213,
the ACLU of Pennsylvania’s Legal Director Larry Frankel explained how
the statute operates as viewpoint discrimination. He cited the Supreme
Court’s decision in R.A.V. v. City of St. Paul72 in which Justice Scalia held
that the right to proscribe “fighting words” was not license to regulate
the use of words based on the state’s hostility to or preference for the
message. Mr. Frankel said:
Even if this bill were deemed to be consistent with the First
Amendment, we cannot understand why Pennsylvania would
want to characterize as terrorist individuals who engage in
conduct that only amounts to summary offenses or misdemeanors….Imposing harsh sanctions on people who
commit civil disobedience is a ploy that was used against civil
rights protesters. It is a coercive tactic that one would not expect
in a society that not only considers itself free but also holds itself
out as a model for other societies.

Government Tactics that Suppress Free Speech

17

enterprises. It specifically prohibited picketing and demonstrations in front of
businesses (with the exception of labor unions). In 2001 the ACLU of Utah filed a
lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the statute on grounds that it was vague
and chilled First Amendment speech. On October 10, 2001, U.S. District Judge
Bruce Jenkins held that the law was unconstitutional and permanently enjoined it
from taking effect. 73
Missouri lawmakers have also tried to punish those who take pictures of puppy mills
in an effort to highlight animal abuse by deeming the taking of such photographs a
felony offense under bill H.B. 666. According to Brett Huff, an investigator for the
Missouri Humane Society, the bill’s definition of “animal facility” is ambiguous
enough to hamper other criminal investigations as well. He specifically cited a
group of methamphetamine dealers who used a horse breeding farm as a cover-up
operation.74
In spring 2006, the Maine House passed LD 1789 originally named “An Act to Deter
Environmental Terrorism in the State,” (amended to “An Act to Amend Aggravated
Criminal Mischief”) which converts misdemeanor criminal mischief (vandalism)
into a felony if the “primary purpose” of the vandalism is to protest “the practices of
a person or business with respect to an environmental or natural resource issue.”75
The new bill enormously broadens what is considered a felony if anything seen
to be tampering with property is also seen to damage a business’s profitability or
reputation. The bill singles out a particular political ideology for harsher treatment.
For example, an anti-abortion protestor who sprays paint on a healthcare center
would not be implicated under the bill, while an environmental protestor who
sprayed a similar message on the wall of a corporation could be prosecuted. This
content-based legislation is patently unconstitutional.
The Maine chapter of the National Lawyers Guild issued a statement on June 14,
2006 to the Maine State Attorney General and Governor Baldacci condemning a
state pattern of laws and police actions that deter the basic constitutional rights of
free speech and political dissent.76
The SHAC 7
A case that has troubled First Amendment lawyers and scholars, activists and civil
libertarians alike is that of the Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty Seven (SHAC 7).
The case has broad implications for First Amendment jurisprudence: it reveals a de
facto censorship of the activist communities’ First Amendment rights by attempting
to criminalize the use of the internet by activists, something that the Animal
Enterprise Terrorist Act may also accomplish.
The SHAC 7 are six animal rights activists, Kevin Kjonaas, Lauren Gazzola, Jacob
Conroy, Joshua Harper, Andrew Stepanian, and Darius Fulmer, and the corporation,

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Punishing Protest

Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty, USA. The defendants were convicted of
conspiracy to violate the 1992 Animal Enterprise Protection Act,77 and were charged
with operating a website that listed protest activity against the Huntingdon animal
testing facilities.78
The activists reported on legal demonstrations and direct actions, including picketing
of companies and persons employed by those companies, and distributing lists of
companies and employees, with home addresses and personal information posted on
websites.79 The prosecution presented no proof that anyone had actually engaged in
direct action as a result of reading the website.
The government premised its prosecution on two narrow exceptions to the First
Amendment: (1) the defendants used Internet websites to incite others to participate
in a campaign to close Huntingdon Life Sciences, and, (2) the words on the websites
and the language of the campaign constituted a true threat.80
Their “speech,” however, was protected under well-established First Amendment
standards. According to National Lawyers Guild member Andrew Erba, one of
the defense attorneys, statements made on the web postings did not constitute true
threats, and the direct threat doctrine is inapplicable since the postings did not
intimate direct violence by the speakers. Finally, the government’s alternate theory
that the web posting incited violence failed, as the government failed to prove
that any of the actions were provoked by web postings.81 The website did not post
targeted threats against specific individuals, as did the website in the so-called
Nuremberg Files Case. (The Nuremberg website posted personal information about
abortion providers, and the names of doctors who were murdered had lines through
them, crossing them off.)82
None of the SHAC activists was accused of causing physical damage to property or
persons. The website in question was sponsored by SHAC, a 501(c)(3) non-profit
organization which posted information about underground animal rights activism in
solidarity with their various causes. SHAC did not endorse the tactics used by such
radical eco-activist groups. It merely disseminated information.
The six defendants received sentences ranging from three to six years. Andrew
Stepanian received the maximum sentence of 36 months in prison and one year
probation and joint restitution, and became the first person in the United States to
serve time under the Animal Enterprise Protection Act.
Andrew Erba describes his personal involvement with conspiracy charges
throughout his years as an attorney, noting that “This isn’t new for the federal
government. They’ve been doing this for years, and they’re very good at it. I think
that the bottom line lesson is that the Federal Government is committing

Government Tactics that Suppress Free Speech

19

Despite the court’s questioning the strength of the government’s case against Darius Fulmer at
the end of trial, he was convicted of conspiracy to violate the Animal Enterprise Protection Act
(AEPA) and was sentenced to one year and one day in prison. According to National Lawyers
Guild member Andrew Erba, the government in this case misconstrued the AEPA, which proscribes a narrow range of activities, such as entering an animal enterprise to set free an animal,
and incorrectly found that mere internet organizing (which may lead someone to organize against
an animal enterprise) rises to the level of a prohibited action. PHOTO: AARON ZELLHOEFER

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The Principled Plea of Daniel McGowan
Daniel McGowan is an environmental and social justice activist who was
indicted in a multi-state sweep of over fourteen eco-activists allegedly involved in incidents that occurred in Oregon in 2001. On December 7, 2005,
the FBI began the Operation Backfire roundup of alleged environmental
arsonists. In a coordinated seven-state sweep, they separately indicted
six people, including McGowan. The government also indicted three who
remain at large. The charges included possession of an incendiary device85
and use of an incendiary device in connection with a crime of violence.86
Many of those indicted faced recommended minimum sentences exceeding life in prison.
McGowan plead not guilty on all counts, and after paying $1.6 million bond
raised by family and friends, was released on February 8, 2006, and released
from house arrest on September 11, 2006. On November 9, after months
of negotiations, McGowan and three of his co-defendants plead guilty to
some of the many charges, with the understanding that they would not
implicate or identify anyone else. In a letter to Judge Ann Aiken at the plea
hearing McGowan stressed the importance of the plea because it allowed
him to accept responsibility for his actions while remaining true to his
strongly held beliefs.87 Weeks before the sentencing, Jenny Synan, Daniel
McGowan’s wife wrote:
Thankfully, ‘life’ is no longer in the equation, but a number of years
still are, as well as the government’s desire to apply the ‘terrorism
enhancement’ and possibly send him to a special restrictive control
management unit for so-called ‘terrorists.’ Daniel is a loving and
compassionate person, certainly not a terrorist.
Now we wait, but not even that much longer. Sentencing is right
around the corner. Daniel’s fate and our future will be announced
in a courtroom June 4, in Eugene, Oregon. Terrorism enhancement
or no enhancement. Five years, eight years, or more. I can only hope
that time will pass swiftly, our wounds will heal completely and we
can make it through this together.88
The government sought a sentence of eight years, while McGowan’s lawyers sought a sentence of no more than 63 months. The government also
argued for a terrorism enhancement in Daniel’s case which his legal team
vigorously fought. On June 4, 2007, Daniel was sentenced to seven years
in prison.

Government Tactics that Suppress Free Speech

21

considerable resources to these prosecutions. I suspect that this is the first of many
similar conspiracy indictments.”83
Operation Backfire and Grand Jury Roundups
Operation Backfire is the name the FBI gave to the 2004 merging of seven
independent investigations from its Portland, Oregon field office.84 Its focus is
to investigate acts of “domestic terrorism” allegedly perpetrated by the Earth
Liberation Front (ELF) and the Animal Liberation Front (ALF).
In connection with Operation Backfire the government has issued—improperly—
grand jury subpoenas. (Grand juries are authorized to decide whether or not to bring
indictments, not to gather evidence or apply pressure to inform on others.) Many
of the individuals who appeared have cooperated with the government, while many
others have refused to appear. Several have been incarcerated for refusing to testify,
after being held in contempt even though they were charged with no crime.
Conclusion
Increasingly, the government is using domestic terrorism laws against activists,
targeting individuals and groups in part because of their political point of view.
Eric Rudolph, whose string of fatal bombings included abortion providers and a
gay nightclub, did not face terrorism charges. Environmental activists charged with
property crimes, however, are being given “terrorism enhancements” in increasing
numbers. When the label of terrorist is applied, it affords law enforcement wide
latitude to spy on activists, to improperly subpoena them, to threaten harsh penalties,
and in doing so, to intimidate many into naming other activists—frequently
innocent—out of fear of what may happen to them.
The government’s investigation of environmental and animal rights activists raises
a host of issues concerning a fundamental component of criminal law: that of intent.
One aim of environmental activists, for instance, is surely to influence government
policy, and it is because of this intent that some eco-activists have been investigated
and prosecuted under terrorism statutes. But there are crucial differences between
the aims of these dissenters and clear-cut cases of terrorism such as, say, the
Embassy bombings in East Africa or the Oklahoma City bombing perpetrated by
Timothy McVeigh. The acts for which environmental activists have been tried were
planned carefully to avoid any harm to human life; in most clear cases of terrorism,
the perpetrators plan carefully to maximize death, injury and destruction. If the term
terrorism is to have any meaning, it must make this distinction, between acts whose
very purpose is to create fear in the populace through violence intended to harm
human life, and those where every effort is made to mitigate the violent potential,
and minimize the risk of injury.

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Punishing Protest

But in many ways, the emotional power and political expedience of the terrorism
label make it too tempting to misapply it, to use it as a tool for repression. In using
terrorism statutes, rather than the many adequate laws that punish property crimes,
the government increases the chance of conviction, raises the risk of harsh prison
sentences—both in length and in the conditions of confinement. This may have two
purposes. First, it creates the illusion of progress in winning the ‘war on terror,’ and
deflects accountability for its efforts to protect Americans from terrorist attack. And
second, it has undermined dissident movements—the environmental and animal
rights movements—that threaten the political status quo. These efforts have a
chilling effect on free speech for all activists, especially those who have witnessed
the coordinated efforts by law enforcement at the local, state and federal levels.
Increasingly, participation in political movements poses great risks, from false arrest
at street demonstrations, and conviction on altered evidence, to being called before a
grand jury to testify against other activists, and convicted and sentenced to as much
as life in prison for a small-scale property crime that posed no threat to human life.

Government Tactics that Suppress Free Speech

23

A Catalogue of Unlawful Government Tactics
Lines of police blocked the crowd from moving in any direction. As a Legal
Observer, I kept asking different officers, “How can people leave from this
situation?” “Officer, are we being arrested?” I received a slew of contradictory
responses: We could leave out of the back of the line. We were definitely not being
arrested, don’t worry about it. We were just being detained.
I saw police rolling out orange nylon nets and begin stretching them around us and
soon all of the 227 people that were on the sidewalk were trapped in the nets, still
not knowing what was happening. One by one we were handcuffed and brought to
the detention center in an old bus depot they had set up just for the protestors they
were expecting to arrest. It was huge and filthy.
From the oil-coated floor of the pen we were held in, I watched for hours as police
brought in and processed over 1,100 people—mostly young people—that were
arrested in the streets that night. I was proud of my generation—fed up enough to
take a stand about the war, poverty, racism, the president, the environment, and
so many other issues. But I remember also being angry that young people voicing
dissent would be targeted and vilified in such a way, despite the fact we weren’t
doing anything illegal. In the end, what hit me the hardest was what came out in the
ensuing lawsuits—that activists and organizers had been under intense surveillance
for over a year before the protests. That to me felt even more invasive than the
actual arrest.

O

– Laura Raymond, on her arrest while legal
observing at Fulton Street, New York during
the 2004 Republican National Convention

ver the past decade there has been a noticeable shift from reactive to
preemptive law enforcement. Preemptive policing includes conducting
mass false arrests and a range of other activities designed to stop
individuals before they engage in associative activities. Other pre-demonstration
tactics include police infiltration, passing unconstitutional ordinances in advance of
specific demonstrations, and denying permits based on content.
Content-Based Exercise of Discretion in Issuing Permits
Permit schemes must be content-neutral regulations authorizing reasonable
“time, place, and manner”89 regulations (such as traffic-control considerations) to
prevent licensing officials from discriminating against groups or speakers with
whom officials disagree.90 Written ordinances or regulations by which local police

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departments issue permits for street parades or large demonstrations should contain
specific and narrowly defined standards, such as the expected size of the gathering,
which may require increased police security measures. Further, the regulations
should include a clearly explained process by which the permits are granted, and
all permit applicants should be subjected to the same process. Unwritten policies
directing officials to deny permits based on applicants’ dress, for example, are
unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination.91
Despite these constitutionally-mandated requirements, cities around the country are
passing ordinances placing unreasonable or undue restrictions on marches and public
demonstrations. Some are denying permits altogether.
After New York City denied a permit for a rally in Central Park during the
Republican National Convention, claiming that it would damage the grass, lawyers
from the Partnership for Civil Justice in Washington, D.C. filed a lawsuit challenging
the decision as unconstitutional. In March 2007, Federal District Judge Pauley held
that the case could proceed to trial. A New York Times editorial on the case, noted
in part:
The Great Lawn, with 13 acres of open space, is the most suitable
site for large rallies in Manhattan. It has been the site of some
spectacular events, like the 1982 “No Nukes” rally and the 1995
Mass with the Pope, both of which drew more than a hundred
thousand people.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg wants to put an end to such gatherings.
Since around the time of the 2004 Republican convention, when the
city repeatedly denied protesters the right to gather in Central Park,
his administration seems to have had a wild fixation on saving every
blade of the Great Lawn….
The lawsuit also calls attention to the uneven way the city applies its
rules. It’s telling that while the New York Philharmonic and its wellheeled subscribers have had no problem securing the Great Lawn for
concerts, there hasn’t been a rally there in years. Classical music fans
are just as capable of flattening grass as critics of the White House.
With Central Park off limits, the city has proposed that rallies of
more than 50,000 people be held on the Parade Ground in Van
Cortlandt Park in the Bronx or the Long Meadow at Brooklyn’s
Prospect Park. It’s an interesting suggestion from a mayor who
wanted to build a professional football stadium right in Manhattan
because he thought the other boroughs were too remote.

Government Tactics that Suppress Free Speech

25

The mayor’s solution might make tending the grass in Central Park
easier. But turning Manhattan into a rally-free zone is too high a
price to pay.92
On April 30, 2007, a settlement was reached in a National Lawyers Guild lawsuit
challenging Fort Lauderdale ordinances that afforded unconstitutionally broad
discretion to city officials to control political expression on city thoroughfares. The
ordinances allowed restrictive definitions of what constitutes a public assembly, by
restricting protestors’ rights to carry items demonstrating their point of view (with
an exemption for religious groups), and by setting no time limit on the approval of
parade and other permits, allowing officials to effectively prohibit events through
inaction. The settlement imposes stricter and fairer standards on the City, protecting
political expression from undue restriction. Fort Lauderdale laws were copied by
Miami in 2003, before anticipated protests at the Free Trade Areas of the Americas
meetings, but were quickly repealed when the Guild filed suit.

Most liability-insurance provisions are
unconstitutional because they permit unfettered
government discretion to impose financial burdens
based on the content of the speech. Often there is no
way the sponsoring groups can afford the thousands
of dollars such insurance costs.
Paying for Permits and Liability Insurance
Municipalities can assess certain nominal administrative charges for costs related to
issuing a permit, but cannot charge for ordinary services such as police services. It
is important to know what, specifically, a municipality wants to charge, and how it
arrived at that fee. It is also important to know what the permit scheme requires: If
one needs a permit for anybody to lawfully “parade” on a sidewalk or congregate in
a park, regardless of the number of people or whether traffic laws will be obeyed,
one can probably challenge the entire permitting scheme.93
The requirement that liability insurance be taken out by demonstrators before a
permit is granted is another way that authorities make it costly or difficult to secure
permits for constitutionally protected events. Most liability-insurance provisions are
unconstitutional because they permit unfettered government discretion to impose
financial burdens based on the content of the speech. Often there is no way the
sponsoring groups can afford the thousands of dollars such insurance costs.

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Weeks before the March 17, 2007 March on the Pentagon, Mara Verheyden-Hilliard
of the Partnership for Civil Justice met with officials at the Pentagon to discuss the
government’s demand that the rally organizers pay several thousands of dollars in
fees. According to Verheyden-Hilliard, the discussion was brief. After she suggested
that the Partnership would sue to enjoin imposition of the fee, the Pentagon backed
down, stating that the many thousands of dollars was not significant in the context
of the Pentagon budget, and that they did not want to spend the next week or two
litigating emergency injunctive relief in Federal District Court. They said they would
waive the fees.94
In California, the City of Los Angeles has been barred from requiring liability
insurance or assessing any department service charges for parades or other
demonstrations. This is a result of the litigation brought by the National Lawyers
Guild before the Democratic National Convention in 2000.95
Pretextual Searches and Raids of Organizing Spaces
Sometimes police, accompanied by a building inspector, will show up at a building
where activists are known to be staying or meeting to either:
● conduct a warrantless search of the premises under the guise of an
administrative search, or
● find a housing violation as a pretext to close down the premises.
The Supreme Court has held that administrative searches such as fire and building
inspections may not be used as a pretext for a criminal investigation.96 Police in
Washington, D.C. closed a protesters’ “convergence center” under the guise that it
was a fire hazard. Human Rights Watch sent a letter of concern to D.C. police chief
Charles Ramsey in April 2000 questioning, among other matters, the police’s claim
that it was a fire hazard, and asking what the exact nature of the fire-code violation
was and whether the property owners had previously been cited for preexisting
code violations.97
Litigation by the Partnership for Civil Justice revealed that the closure of the
protesters’ convergence center was initiated by the intelligence division of the police
department, and not initiated by the police department. The police department
initiated the closure after they applied for, and were denied, a search warrant.
The Los Angeles chapter of the National Lawyers Guild successfully enjoined such
administrative searches before the 2000 Democratic National Convention (DNC).
The Guild and the ACLU sent a letter to the Los Angeles police and fire departments
demanding that they stop harassing DNC protesters at their organizing space, by
making visits without a warrant, demanding to see the lease, or asking to conduct a
fire inspection:

Government Tactics that Suppress Free Speech

27

The repeated attempts to enter the Convergence Center, without warrants,
is a clear infringement of the right to be free from unlawful searches….
The City may not circumvent the constraints of the Fourth Amendment by
substituting other city employees for Los Angeles police officers. The same
Fourth Amendment protections apply to the execution of administrative
search warrants.
Absent legitimate exigent circumstances, which do not exist here, no
government agent may enter the building without a judicial warrant….
Supreme Court cases ‘make it very clear that an administrative search may
not be converted into an instrument which serves the very different needs of
law enforcement officials. If it could, then all of the protections traditionally
afforded against intrusions by the police would evaporate, to be replaced by
the much weaker barriers erected between citizens and other government
agencies.’98
Using the Charge of Conspiracy to Prosecute Political Activists
A common charge brought against political activists is conspiracy, which requires
relatively little evidentiary support.99 In 1925 Judge Learned Hand referred to
conspiracy as the “darling of the modern prosecutor’s nursery.”100 Eight decades later
this charge still invites abuse by the government.

In 1925 Judge Learned Hand referred to conspiracy
as the “darling of the modern prosecutor’s nursery.”
Eight decades later this charge still invites
abuse by the government.
Conspiracy is much easier to prove than an actual criminal act because it only
requires that the conspirators have agreed to engage in a certain unlawful act; the
act need not have actually happened. Conspiracy can be proved by the coerced
testimony of co-conspirators. Prosecutors can win a conviction by intimidating an
innocent individual into testifying falsely against someone else by threatening to
charge that innocent person with conspiracy. And conspiracy charges significantly
increase sentence time. For instance, a federal arson charge carries with it a
minimum prison sentence of five years, while a conspiracy charge on top of an arson
charge can easily result in life in prison.
Civil rights attorney Daniel Meyers, president of the National Lawyers Guild New
York City Chapter, describes how the government has used the charge of conspiracy
to target political movements throughout U.S. history:

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Punishing Protest

Our groups and organizations are infiltrated with many forms of
intimidation or psychological propaganda, divisions, playing on
people’s fears. And what is in the hands of the government that’s
been their tool to criminalize groups and members of groups? What
do they have? They have 18 United States Code 371 and some of its
spin-offs, which is the conspiracy law. It is a charge that is the most
easily brought and the most easily proved. It creates within it the
circumstances of people becoming internally frightened by the way
that the law operates, and invariably, and often in political cases,
there are people who flip. Invariably there are going to be one or
more informers. There is going to be surveillance. There are going
to be wiretaps—legal and illegal. There is going to be the whole
range of collection of information and evidence under what is an
agreement to do something wrong. Under U.S. law a conspiracy,
an agreement to do something wrong, is often times punished more
severely than doing the actual harm. 101
Conspiracy charges were used, for example, in 1968 to indict Dr. Benjamin Spock
and three other activists protesting the Vietnam War for hindering administration of
the Universal Military Training and Service Act. And Ethel and Julius Rosenberg
were never actually charged with espionage, just conspiracy to commit espionage.
They were convicted on the testimony of their alleged “co-conspirator” who
the government threatened with execution unless he provided evidence against
the Rosenbergs. More recently, charges of conspiracy to commit murder were
brought (thirty-five years after the offense) against eight men with ties to the Black
Liberation Army for a 1971 killing of a San Francisco policeman.102
Checkpoints and Metal Detectors
Police checkpoints, also called screening checkpoints, are a relatively unprecedented
security measure at protests in which all bags are subject to search at a designated
checkpoint. In addition, protesters’ banners and signs are inspected to disallow
large poles that police allege may be used as weapons. Checkpoints can create
bottlenecks, slow down the process of getting to the protest site, and discourage
would-be protesters from attending.
Word that checkpoints will be employed can in itself have a chilling effect on First
Amendment activities. Some would-be demonstrators may choose not to attend upon
learning of possible personal inspection by police before reaching the demonstration.
This is particularly true for people from communities that already feel scrutinized,
such as people of color, immigrants, and religious and ethnic minorities, including
Muslims, Arab Americans, and South Asians.

Government Tactics that Suppress Free Speech

29

“We cannot simply suspend or restrict civil liberties
until the War on Terror is over, because the War on
Terror is unlikely ever to be truly over. September 11,
2001, already a day of immeasurable tragedy, cannot
be the day liberty perished in this country,”

- 11th Circuit Court
For two years there was a metal detector checkpoint at the School of the America
Protests (SOA) in Columbus, Georgia. In response to litigation for which National
Lawyers Guild member Bill Quigley was co-counsel, in 2004 the 11th Circuit ruled
unanimously that subjecting political protesters to metal detector searches was
unconstitutional under the First and Fourth Amendments. The detectors caused long
lines and prevented people from getting to the assembly site in a timely fashion.
The 11th Circuit’s decision addressed the City’s assertion that the Court should find
that preventive measures of a metal detector was constitutional in the aftermath of
September 11, 2001. The Court replied:
The City’s position would effectively eviscerate the Fourth Amendment.…
[T]he Fourth Amendment embodies a value judgment by the Framers that
prevents us from gradually trading ever-increasing amounts of freedom and
privacy for additional security. It establishes searches based on evidence—
rather than potentially effective, broad, prophylactic dragnets—as the
constitutional norm.…We cannot simply suspend or restrict civil liberties
until the War on Terror is over, because the War on Terror is unlikely ever to
be truly over. September 11, 2001, already a day of immeasurable tragedy,
cannot be the day liberty perished in this country.
Free-Speech Zones
Free-speech zones are the designation of a particular area for speech—generally
while restricting protected expression in otherwise appropriate portions of traditional
public fora. They are an unconstitutional limit on the First Amendment. Also referred
to as secure zones or protest zones, these are areas established by law enforcement
for protesters to stand in. They are often fenced off and at some distance from the
event being protested so that protesters’ signs and presence may not even be noticed.
An example of an especially restrictive protest zone arose before the 2004
Democratic National Convention in Boston. The zone was completely enclosed by
netting, razor wire and a chain link fence. In July 2004, the First Circuit Court of
Appeals in Boston rejected an appeal by the National Lawyers Guild and the ACLU

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to force the city to redesign its free speech zone outside the Democratic convention
hall. The federal judge, Judge Douglas Woodlock, who heard the challenge on July
22 stated in open court: “I, at first, thought before taking the view [of the site] that
the characterizations of the space as being like an internment camp were litigation
hyperbole. I now believe that it’s an understatement. One cannot conceive of what
other elements you would put in place to make a space more of an affront to the idea
of free expression ...”103 Despite that, Judge Woodlock denied the challenge to the
conditions, ruling that they were justified by safety concerns of the delegates.
Four years prior to the Boston event, activists were much more successful in their
efforts to have deemed invalid regulations that were designed to suppress speech.
A lawsuit brought before the 2000 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles
resulted in an injunction striking down a secure zone of more than eight million
square feet around the convention site, striking down the City’s parade-permit
ordinance, and striking down the City’s park-permit regulations. Following the
Court’s issuance of a preliminary injunction, the City stipulated to a permanent
injunction. The Los Angeles Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild was a plaintiff
in SEIU v. City of Los Angeles,104 with Guild lawyers as counsel. The court
granted the injunction, finding that “the sidewalks and streets contained within
the designated ‘secure zone’…are traditional public fora for the exercise of First
Amendment rights.” There was no secure zone at the event.
Free speech zones are also established when President Bush travels. Secret Service
agents visit the venue in advance and give orders to local law enforcement to
establish free-speech zones. Protesters opposing the President’s policies are then
quarantined in those zones, far from sight of the President and out of view of
the press.
Pop-Up Police Lines
Pop-up lines are rapidly deployed lines of police officers that block the movement of
protesters, misdirecting them and splitting up groups, and/or detaining and arresting
the protesters. Police lines can alter the flow of a march or literally trap people and
prevent them from moving along or leaving the march. When police surround a
group of people in this fashion, mass arrests often follow.
In February 2007 the Partnership for Civil Justice reached a settlement with the
District of Columbia over pop-up police lines, trapping and detention of protesters,
Guild Legal Observers, and passersby that occurred in 2002 at a protest against the
IMF/World Bank, and the then-threatened war in Iraq. The settlement provides that
police will be trained in new restrictions on the use of pop-up lines and detentions,
among other restrictions.

Government Tactics that Suppress Free Speech

31

Pop-up lines have been documented at many large, and not so large, demonstrations.
At an April 7, 2003 protest outside the New York office of the military contractor
The Carlyle Group, approximately 200 protesters attended. According to attendee
Liv Dillon, as police began to make arrests, “two lines of police suddenly came
charging onto our side of the street,” penning supportive bystanders into a corral.105
Mass False Arrests and Detentions
Another way in which police prevent people from protesting is to conduct mass false
arrests—any arrest not based on probable cause—so that segments of demonstrators
are literally removed from the area and detained. This practice usually results
in extensive media coverage and sends a message of intimidation to would-be
protesters.
The Independent Review Panel (IRP) investigating the 2003 FTAA demonstrations
in Miami cited a statement in the Miami-Dade Police Department After-Action
Report that substantiates that police conducted mass arrests and detentions with
the goal of keeping protesters away from the event location: “The courts assisted
by staggering bond hearings and releases so that arrestees were not able to quickly
return to the conference site.”106 The IRP was unable, however, to find support for
this statement when questioning the Administrative Office of the Courts.107
Police in Washington, D.C. conducted mass arrests on September 27, 2002. Of a
total of 647 demonstrators arrested that day, approximately 400 were arrested in
Pershing Park. Findings from a February 27, 2003 confidential report revealed that
Mayor Williams and the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department engaged in a coverup of the lack of lawful justification for the mass arrests. Barham et al. v. Ramsey,
et al., the class-action lawsuit filed by the Partnership for Civil Justice, charged
the District of Columbia and federal agencies with falsely arresting hundreds of
demonstrators, observers, and passers-by on September 27. “D.C. and federal lawenforcement authorities executed n illegal and unconstitutional coordinated plan
to sweep the streets of political activist and place them in preventive detention,”
said attorney Carl Messineo.108 On January 13, 2006 the D.C. Circuit ruled that the
Washington D.C. Police Chief may be held personally liable for the mass arrests at
Pershing Park:
The Court of Appeals ruling rejects the appeal by Chief of Police
Charles H. Ramsey, in which Ramsey claimed that he should not
be held personally liable for these sweeping constitutional rights
violations, clearing the way for a trial on Ramsey’s responsibility.
The Court also upheld the District Court’s denial of qualified
immunity to Assistant Chief of Police Peter Newsham who also
commanded the arrests.109

Punishing Protest

32

Snatch Squads
Snatch squads are routinely used in other countries and are making their way into the
lexicon of U.S. law enforcement. A snatch squad is a group of police officers, often
in plainclothes, who identify a particular person or persons for arrest, then isolate
and surround the person(s), and make an arrest, often whisking the person(s) from
the scene immediately. Or, police may push parts of the crowd aside with nightsticks
or horses in order to more easily snatch someone.
Police snatch squads were visible at the 2003 FTAA protests in Miami, often
many blocks away from the rallies in unmarked vehicles. National Lawyers Guild
member Andrea Costello, co-counsel in one of the lawsuits against the Miami Police
Department and other local, state, and federal law-enforcement agencies, described
“[undercover] police in full body armor, wearing ski masks, with no identifying tags,
jumping out of vans and dragging protesters off.”110 Guild Legal Observer Miles
Swanson was extracted by ski-masked police officers in an unmarked van as he
walked on a side street near the Miami protests. Weeks earlier, a photo of Swanson
wearing a Guild Legal Observer hat was featured in a PowerPoint presentation that
police showed to local businesses in preparation for the FTAA protests.111
On November 21, 2003, Laura Raymond, from the National Lawyers Guild National
Office, traveled to Miami to work in the legal office during the FTAA meetings. She
sent an e-mail report about this police tactic:
Random people are being pulled behind police lines that may be
three rows thick and Legal Observers can’t access them for names
and descriptions [of arrestees], nor can medics access people who
are hurt in the process. Also, undercovers are snatching random
people in the crowds and pulling them away. Unmarked ‘snatch
squads’ patrol the city and grab people off the streets. Three Guild
Legal Observers have been picked off this way in separate incidents,
and witnesses report that the Legal Observers were beaten by
the police.112
Singling people out for arrest based on their perceived political ideology—in this
instance targeting people perceived by their manner of dress to be, or to associate
with, anarchists—is unconstitutional.
Containment Pens
A pen is a containment instrument that places unconstitutional limits on
the First Amendment. Police often erect pens out of wood or metal barriers
at demonstrations as a means of containing protesters within a narrowly
confined area with no freedom to move about. The establishment of

Government Tactics that Suppress Free Speech

33

barricaded pens makes it easier to conduct mass arrests. They also create safety
issues, such as the possibility of panic on the part of demonstrators who wish
to leave but are trapped within the often tightly packed confines of the metal
barricades.
The use of pens also sends a message of intimidation. In an analysis of the New
York Police Department’s use of demonstration pens, Brooklyn College sociology
professor Alex Vitale notes that “the use of heavily policed choke points at the
entrances to the pens creates the clear impression that the police are in control of
access to what is supposed to be a public event. Visual inspections and questioning
by officers enhances the appearance of police intimidation.” He also writes that
“[one] of the effects of using pens in this way is to make the demonstration appear
dangerous to those who feel vulnerable to police action.”113
On March 20, 2003, people in Chicago tried to march in protest against the Iraq
invasion. Police herded both protesters and bystanders into pens so that they could
not leave.114 The National Lawyers Guild filed a class action lawsuit challenging
unlawful arrests made without probable cause at this protest. The suit contends that
police penned approximately 800 bystanders and protesters into an area on Chicago
Avenue Between Michigan Avenue and inner Lake Shore Drive. There, the police
detained the group for three hours before arresting them all for reckless conduct,
charges which were later dropped.

“The use of heavily policed choke points at the
entrances to the pens creates the clear impression
that the police are in control of access to what is
supposed to be a public event.”
- Alex Vitale, sociology professor at Brooklyn College
In a letter to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg before a March 2004
antiwar demonstration, several litigators outlined some of the problems with the
practice of establishing barricades to pen in demonstrators and expressed concern
about the then-upcoming event:
The City should allow demonstrators to assemble, move along their
route, and disperse in an ordinary fashion, because allowing the
crowd to flow in a natural way is the safest form of crowd control.
The purposeful creation of bottlenecks by penning in groups of
protesters is an ill-conceived policy that has proven to be dangerous
in the past.

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Attorney David Rankin of the National Lawyers Guild’s New York City Chapter negotiates with
members of the New York City Police Department outside the federal courthouse in Manhattan.
Hundreds of supporters were gathered at the October 16, 2006 sentencing of attorney Lynne
Stewart who was convicted on charges of aiding terrorism. PHOTO: MICHEL MARTINEZ

Government Tactics that Suppress Free Speech

35

Tension, anxiety and fears are heightened for the protesters who are
contained by the pens and unable to move along the route normally.
Protesters with disabilities, medical needs, small children, or special
needs will not be accommodated. Bathrooms will not be accessible.
Families, friends, and associates will be separated. Verbal exchanges
with police officers controlling the pens are often unpleasant,
exacerbating the tensions of being held in a pen. The use of pens
heightens both the perception and the reality that people may be
emotionally or physically hurt.
Not only is this practice unsafe, but dividing the demonstrators also
interferes with the right of free expression….115
The Rush Tactic and Flanking and Using Vehicles as Weapons
The rush tactic involves police officers, usually on horseback, motorcycles, or
bicycles, charging and assaulting a group of demonstrators.
On April 13, 2004 the Partnership for Civil Justice filed a federal lawsuit against the
Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police Department seeking an injunction against
police use of the rush tactic, and against the use of motorcycles and bicycles as
weapons against pedestrian demonstrators. The suit also sought to enjoin police
use of lines and vehicles to flank marchers and prohibit individuals from leaving or
joining demonstration activities. The case is still pending.
In a tactic known as “flanking,” at the FTAA demonstrations in Miami on the
morning of November 15, 2003, police used their bicycles to form a circle and
entrap a group of about 50 people for approximately two hours.116 Whenever
demonstrators asked if they were being detained, the police said no. When
demonstrators asked if they were then free to leave, they were also told no.117 This
entrapment prevented the group from joining a large, nonviolent march through
downtown Miami. When the group finally received permission to walk, the police
flanked them, walking their bikes in lines on all sides of the group. The police used
their bicycles to push demonstrators off the sidewalk and into the street. After an
hour of herding the demonstrators in this fashion, the police formed a line in front
of them with their bicycles and proceeded to shoot them with tasers. About five
people were arrested, and many more were tasered. One demonstrator was arrested
after being knocked to the ground when a police officer rammed his bicycle into the
demonstrator’s back.118
In November 2006 Partnership lawyers announced a settlement with police of a suit
stemming back to President Bush’s inauguration. At that event police used force
and violence to surround on all sides, trap, detain and falsely imprison hundreds of
protestors who had been marching to get to the parade route. The settlement includes

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changes in department policies for handling demonstrations. The Metropolitan
Police Department agreed to make sure requirements that officers report the use of
force remain in place during public protests, requirements that had been suspended
during mass assemblies. Under the settlement, officer training will be changed to
reflect that mandate, and training will include restrictions on the use of police lines
against protesters and instruction that no one can be arrested for parading without
a permit.
Crowd Control Using Less-Lethal Weapons
In the United States, collective punishment of protesters has also taken the form of
firing so-called less-lethal weapons into crowds.
Law-enforcement agencies describe as less-lethal a range of often high technology
weapons that have in fact been associated with fatalities in the United States. These
include tasers, projectile weapons, and chemical weapons like CS2 (tear gas) and
oleoresin capsicum (pepper spray.)119 The United Nations Commission on Human
Rights condemned the use of such weapons by the Oakland Police Department in
2003,120 as did an independent review commission investigating excessive police
force at the FTAA demonstrations in Miami.121
The National Lawyers Guild, with attorneys from the Mexican American Legal
Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), filed a class action lawsuit in federal
court in Los Angeles on May 9, 2007 on behalf of the community groups who
organized a May Day immigrants rights rally at MacArthur Park in the city’s heavily
Latino immigrant community. The suit seeks changes in how the Los Angeles Police
Department responds to demonstrations, as well as damages for all of the peaceful
participants in the rally who were beaten and shot by the police (many in the back)
and chased from the park.
According to the lawsuit, riot-gear clad Los Angeles Police Department officers
swept through the park without warning and ordered everyone to leave the park.122
A dispersal order was given from a helicopter hovering several blocks away from
the park. The announcement was largely drowned out by the noise of the helicopter
and was given only in English, despite the fact that the MacArthur Park community
is largely Spanish-speaking immigrants. There was no warning and opportunity to
leave before police began shooting people with less lethal munitions and beating
anyone in their path with batons.123
“This was nothing short of a police riot,” said Carol Sobel, President of the Los
Angeles Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild and one of the attorneys on the
class action. “The police shot munitions at anyone in the park. It was sheer luck
that more people were not injured and that no child was seriously harmed by the
lawless action of the LAPD on May 1.”124 Lawyers for the class action estimate that

Government Tactics that Suppress Free Speech

37

they have received reports from dozens of individuals injured that day as they were
chased from the park, including reports of broken bones, concussions, and other
contusions. Several individuals suffered injuries from head strikes with batons, a
serious categorically lethal use of force according to the LAPD’s own training.
The original police estimates, provided in the days immediately following May
1, were that 10 people were injured and 50 to 100 “agitators” prompted the police
response. Since then, the number of injured reported by the police has risen to 24
and the number of “agitators” dropped to approximately 30. To date, videos of the
rally and police action have failed to substantiate the police claims of provocation
for the massive and brutal police response. Since the early 1990s, the City has
paid out over $9,000,000 in damages for police abuse at demonstrations, including
approximately $5,000,000 for the police actions at the Democratic National
Convention in 2000.125

The Oakland Police Department fired directly at
people’s heads and upper bodies, despite the warning
printed prominently on each wooden bullet shell
casing: “Do not fire directly at persons as serious
injury or death may result.”
In addition to six organizational plaintiffs, individual plaintiffs include: Kevin
Breslin, who was serving as a Legal Observer on behalf of the National Lawyers
Guild. He was struck at least five times on his legs by at least two officers and then
hit in the chest. Luis Galvez tried to help people escape from the park and, as he did
so, was hit on the head, neck and back multiple times, and knocked unconscious by a
baton strike from behind. Jorge Lopez was with friends eating snacks when he heard
yelling and shouting and saw people running. He was shot with a rubber bullet in
the chest. When he tried to retrieve the ball that hit him, he was shot two more times
in the leg. Leopoldo Ortiz is a 76-year-old veteran who was walking in the park
when the police attack began. One officer hit him multiple times in the stomach,
knocking the wind out of him. He fell to the ground and was kicked two times in the
backside.126
According to Carol Sobel, the Los Angeles Police Department violated two
settlement agreements from Democratic National Convention litigation in 2000
where members from the Metro Division used similar violence. One agreement
required the police to set aside an area for the press (which they did not do for the
afternoon march on May 1, 2007), and one dealt with protocols for how police
conduct crowd control. (See page 54 for details).

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On April 7, 2003, Oakland police broke up a nonviolent antiwar picket at the
Oakland docks using a panoply of less-lethal weapons, including large wooden
bullets, “sting ball” grenades filled with rubber bullets and tear gas, and shot-filled
beanbag projectiles. The Oakland Police Department fired directly at people’s heads
and upper bodies, despite the warning printed prominently on each wooden bullet
shell casing: “Do not fire directly at persons as serious injury or death may result.”
The police thus used lethal force when nothing had occurred to justify any force as
demonstrators were attempting to comply with police orders. Three people suffered
broken bones, and one woman had such a severe crush injury to her leg that she had
to receive a large skin graft.127
The use of excessive force violates not only state and federal law but also
international human rights law as contained in treaties to which the U.S. is a party.
Once ratified, treaties are part of our domestic law under the Supremacy Clause of
the Constitution and are binding on all levels of government. Excessive police force
is prohibited by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR),
ratified by the U.S. in 1992. Similar protections exist in the Convention against
Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which the
U.S. ratified in 1994.
Unprecedented and Unconstitutional Bails for Perceived Leaders
The Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution provides that bail shall not be
excessive. The purpose of bail is to allow an arrested individual to be free until he
or she has been convicted. Theoretically the amount of bail should not exceed what
is reasonably necessary to prevent that individual from leaving the jurisdiction
until the case has concluded. Standard bail schedules specify bail amounts for
common offenses, but judges frequently set extremely high bail in the case of certain
offenses—such as rape—in order to ensure that the defendant remains in detention
until the trial has concluded. Although this practice of preventative detention is
inconsistent with the Constitution, the Supreme Court has yet to rule on the issue.
It is unconstitutional, however, to set bail high based on the fact that someone may
be a “leader,” especially when that person has been charged with a nonviolent
misdemeanor, lives in the jurisdiction, and is not a flight risk. Setting bail based not
upon what he or she is charged with but upon other, uncharged activities is clearly a
political tactic to intimidate dissenters.
Animal-rights activist Nick Cooney was arrested on March 14, 2006 by several
police and FBI agents who searched his house and questioned his roommates—all
for misdemeanor charges for allegedly making “terrorist threats” months earlier at
a peaceful demonstration. The FBI, on behalf of the prosecution, requested bail of
$50,000, arguing that Cooney was affiliated with the Animal Liberation Front. His
attorney secured reduction in the bail to $15,000. Cooney believes the FBI pursued

Government Tactics that Suppress Free Speech

39

him because they believe he was a leader in a campaign to close Huntingdon Life
Sciences, especially given that the arrest was less than two weeks after the verdict in
the SHAC 7 case.128
At the 2003 FTAA protests in Miami, bail for misdemeanor charges was set from
$1,000 to $20,000. (Typically standard bail for disorderly conduct, or resisting
arrest, in Dade County is $500.) Bail was set at $10,000 for several activists charged
with felonies that were later dismissed. Attorneys with the Miami Public Defender’s
Office, which provided assistance during the mass arrests, expressed concern at the
excessive bails.
Over-prosecution of protesters, especially those whom the government labels as
“ringleaders,” occurred at the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia on
August 1, 2000. An unprecedented $1 million bail was set for two demonstrators
there whom police identified as leaders: John Sellers, director of the Californiabased Ruckus Society, and Kate Sorensen, a leader of Philadelphia Direct Action
Group. Sellers was charged with aggravated assault on a police officer—a charge
that was later dropped—and eight other charges, including obstruction of a highway,
failure to disperse, obstruction of justice, and conspiracy to commit all of the above,
for a total of 14 counts. Also identified by law enforcement as a leader was Terrence
McGuckin of both the Philadelphia Direct Action Group and Philadelphia ACT UP.
He was arrested on misdemeanor charges of using his cell phone as an “instrument
of crime” (evidently encouraging others to block an intersection). For his cell
phone crime, he received a disproportionately high bail of $500,000. The trial judge
dismissed most of the government’s charges, and McGuckin was found guilty of
disorderly conduct and sentenced to probation. He prevailed in a subsequent lawsuit
against the city of Philadelphia.
Intimidation by FBI Questioning and Grand Jury Subpoena
Other methods of protester intimidation include FBI questionings and the issuance
of grand jury subpoenas. The use of these methods has occurred regularly especially
in connection with environmental and animal rights activists.
The National Lawyers Guild received a surge of reports of FBI agents questioning
activists in many states about plans to attend the Democratic National Convention in
Boston in 2004. Federal agents questioned 20 activists in Lawrence, Kansas, as well
as in Kansas City, Missouri. The FBI asked these questions: (1) “Do you know of
anyone planning violence at the DNC?” (2) “If you found anything out, would you
tell us?” and (3) “Do you know that lying about the first question is a felony?” Many
of the activists indicated that they preferred to answer only with an attorney present;
the FBI instructed them to get one and return. Agents located the cell phone number
of one person and called him four times in a 30-minute period. FBI agents called the
parents of another activist. The Guild received a communication from activists in

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Kansas dated July 28, 2004 suggesting that the Topeka, Kansas City, Columbia, Fort
Collins, Kirksville, and St. Louis FBI investigations might be the work of an illegal
“red squad” operating in Lawrence, Kansas. The agents had identified themselves
as working with a Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF).129 In fact, the activists appear
to have been correct, based on revelations that the New York Police Department
conducted broad spying in the United States and Canada before the Republican
National Convention.
In another instance, after being interviewed by the FBI, three men in their early
twenties from Missouri cancelled their trip to Boston to participate in DNC protests
in order to respond to a subpoena. Their lawyer said that other people who had
planned to go with them decided not to once they heard of the FBI questioning.
Two individuals interviewed in Colorado—Paul Bame from Fort Collins and Sarah
Bardwell with the American Friends Service Committee—said they had been asked
similar questions and had refused to answer.130
More recently grand juries are being convened to investigate animal-rights and
environmental activists. They were convened to investigate activist Rod Coronado’s
speech in which he allegedly instructed a room full of people how to build a
“destructive device.”131 The FBI also investigated Earth Liberation Front-related
arsons in San Diego in 2003. Approximately eleven people were subpoenaed to
appear in front of this grand jury. One man who appeared was asked to provide DNA
samples, including hair and saliva. When he refused to comply, the prosecutor told

TWO SEPARATE FINDINGS ON PRE-RNC
INTELLIGENCE-GATHERING
Office of the Inspector General Report 2006:
No substantiation of allegations that the FBI improperly targeted protesters
New York Times, March 25, 2007:
New York City Police Department questioned activists openly and conducted broad undercover spying, in the U.S. and Canada. Police posed
an activists and infiltrated meetings, made friends, exchanged emails
and reported back daily to NYPD Intelligence Division. The NYPD kept
covert records of antiwar groups, artistic organizations, church groups
and New York elected officials. Undercover activities spanned at least 15
sites outside New York, from California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Oregon,
to Texas, and other spots.

Government Tactics that Suppress Free Speech

41

him he would be held in contempt, so he told them he would consult and return with
a lawyer. He returned a week later with an attorney who watched as a federal agent
took hair samples, saliva, extensive hand and finger prints.132 A year later he was
subpoenaed again by the same grand jury, as was his cousin, and two others. They
ended up canceling his grand jury appearance, without an explanation. He believes it
was because they couldn’t grant him immunity, and they knew he would not testify
voluntarily. His cousin did testify, evidently fearing jail after he was intimidated by
police detectives who visited him at his home.133
In 2006 the Office of the Inspector General issued a special report on a review of the
FBI’s activities concerning potential protesters at the political conventions. It found
no substantiation of allegations that the FBI improperly targeted protesters in an
effort to chill First Amendment rights and that such interviews were conducted for
legitimate law enforcement purposes.134
But on March 25, 2007 the New York Times reported that the New York City Police
Department (NYPD) not only questioned activists openly but also conducted broad
undercover spying, in the United States and in Canada, before the Republican
National Convention.135 New York police officers posed as activists and attended
meetings of political groups, made friends and exchanged email messages, and then
reported daily with the NYPD Intelligence Division.136
Since 2003, the NYPD kept secret records of church groups, artistic companies,
antiwar organizations, and even three New York elected officials. Police records
indicate that in addition to sharing information with other police departments, New
York undercover officers were active themselves in at least 15 places outside New
York—including California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts,
Michigan, Montreal, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas and
Washington, D.C.—and in Europe.137
In its preparations, the [police] department applied the intelligence resources that
had just been strengthened for fighting terrorism to an entirely different task:
collecting information on people participating in political protests. In the records
reviewed by The New York Times, some of the police intelligence concerned people
and groups bent on causing trouble, but the bulk of the reports covered the plans and
views of people with no obvious intention of breaking the law.138
In October 2003, the National Lawyers Guild’s national office received word from a
member in Des Moines, Iowa that local authorities had told her that her e-mail was
likely being monitored. Four months later, on February 3, 2004 that same member,
Sally Frank, a law professor and an advisor to the Guild chapter at Drake University,
called to say that the authorities had issued subpoenas to appear before grand juries
to four antiwar protesters in Des Moines. Federal forces also subpoenaed Drake
University for records of its National Lawyers Guild chapter, including names of

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officers, information relating to an antiwar training in November 2003 entitled
“Stop the Occupation! Bring the Iowa Guard Home,” and reports dating back two
years. The government also issued a gag order on employees of the University.
These actions puzzled the locals, mobilized the Guild, and quickly attracted national
attention because they seemed to target individuals based on their political activity.
Former Guild president Bruce Nestor filed a motion on behalf of the NLG, as an
interested party, to quash the Drake subpoena. The Guild prevailed on the motion
and the national press devoted significant coverage to the issuance of the subpoenas.
In The Nation, constitutional lawyer David Cole noted that this was not just an
isolated incident of prosecutorial discretion but rather was part of then-Attorney
General Ashcroft’s view that monitoring political dissent is a central component in
the so-called war on terrorism. Cole noted that Ashcroft said that those who engage
in dissent “erode our national unity and diminish our resolve. They give ammunition
to America’s enemies, and pause to America’s friends.”139
Likely in response to the media attention and the outpouring of public
condemnation, the U.S. Attorney’s Office first took the unusual step of issuing a
statement confirming its investigation, and then the next day abruptly withdrew its
subpoenas. However, if the government was only looking into the actions of one
person, one must ask why it also subpoenaed National Lawyers Guild records dating
back two years. And why force a gag order on Drake University? Marjorie Cohn,
now President of the National Lawyers Guild, wrote at the time that “The gag order
slapped on Drake employees before the subpoenas were withdrawn confirms the
government’s intention to conduct its witch hunt in secrecy.”140
The Des Moines subpoena, the environmental activists’ subpoenas, and subpoenas
for pre-political convention attendees are not the first time that grand juries have
been improperly used to badger political dissenters, especially during wartime.
In response to this subversion of process, in the late 1960s and early 1970s Guild
members represented Vietnam War draft resisters and antiwar protesters subpoenaed
to appear before grand juries.141 And Guild member Robert J. Boyle, in conjunction
with the Grand Jury Project, Inc. of the National Lawyers Guild, wrote the legal
treatise Representation of Witnesses Before Federal Grand Juries.142 Its introduction
explains that prosecutors have great freedom of access to grand juries, which in turn
have virtually unlimited subpoena power and can essentially hold hearings in secret.
It also makes clear that: “Grand jury activities and investigations have targeted
political dissenters, escaped slaves in the 1850s, movements involving causes
deemed anti-American, and, more recently in the 1970s, the Vietnam Antiwar and
Women’s movements.”143

Government Tactics that Suppress Free Speech

43

Conclusion
After the attacks of September 11 and the United States invasion of Iraq, the Bush
administration has applied its policy of aggressive preemptive warfare against
domestic dissenters. Although the beginnings of a well-orchestrated campaign of
unlawful regulation by law enforcement on free speech were seen at the 1999 World
Trade Organization meet in Seattle, the Bush administration has used the threat of
terror attacks to implement an expedited drive to silence its opponents.
Legitimate First Amendment activities suppressed by legions of police and
government agents suited in body armor and engaged in paramilitary tactics has a
terrifying effect on demonstrators. One consequence of such a multi-level aggressive
crackdown is that many individuals are afraid to voice their views, the result of
the “chilling” effect that the First Amendment was designed to avoid. Would-be
protesters or entire communities frequently targeted by the police may decide it is
not worth the risk of encountering police violence and possible arrest.
None of these often violent practices has made this country safer, and some have in
fact resulted in injuries and even deaths. Equally troubling is that such actions by
law enforcement and government broadcast the message that the very act of protest
is unlawful. Both results are dangerous to democracy.

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Officers from the Technical Assistance Response Unit (TARU) followed and videotaped a group
of protesters on subway cars during a silent “die-in” at the 2004 Republican National Convention in New York. TARU provides investigative technical (surveillance) equipment to all bureaus
within the police department and also provides assistance to other City, State and Federal
agencies. TARU officers continue to videotape protesters at most New York City demonstrations.
PHOTO: CODY DORAN

Government Tactics that Suppress Free Speech

45

Police Lies, Tampering, and Videotape
I saw the officer who was driving the bus, and I asked him, ‘Could you take a look at
these [handcuffs]? I think they might be too tight. It’s cutting off the circulation.’ And
as I turned around to him, he cinched them tighter. And I turned around, and I said,
‘Why did you do that?’ And he said, ‘Well, because you might attack me.’ And I was
still so astonished, I couldn’t—I couldn’t even process that I was being arrested, and
that the police were treating me this way. It just didn’t make any sense to me. 144

A

– Alexander Dunlop, bystander arrested and
detained on his way home from a restaurant
during the Republican National Convention

t the local and state level, police officers are threatening political expression
by using a range of aggressive tactics during political demonstrations.
Instances of police lying about events, and even altering physical evidence,
have occurred when police are tasked with implementing illegal and unconstitutional
strategies. Most of the practices described in this report stem directly from the Bush
administration’s policies. Police are responsible for implementing the repressive
apparatus of the current administration—it is impossible for them to do so legally
or ethically.
Perhaps the most egregious example, discussed below, of unlawful activity by
law enforcement occurred in New York City during the 2004 Republican National
Convention. Police actually doctored video evidence to secure the unjust convictions
of activists.145 By altering videotapes of their unlawful arrests of peaceful bystanders
and protesters, and by giving those altered tapes to defense attorneys and the courts,
police engaged in perjury and evidence tampering. Such illegal conduct not only
interferes with the First Amendment, but it also diminishes the public’s trust in the
criminal justice system.
Altering of videotape evidence by police has previously been used largely to target
communities of color, notably in cases of excessive police force. For example,
Rickey Jones, an African American photographer, was beaten by police and arrested
while videotaping a family birthday party as police were breaking it up. Police
reports conflicted with his video of the incident. The city attorney’s office showed
one version of the videotape to Mr. Jones’s defense attorney Jill Clark, but provided
a different version during discovery.
When the lawyer viewed a copy of the original videotape, she saw “A clear image
of an officer…moving his arm toward Jones, who held the camera…The camera
dropped to the ground, but landed on its side and continued to film what [the lawyer]

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said appeared to be police officers in leather jackets “whaling on someone [who the
lawyer] believes to be Jones.”146
Jill Clark asked the City Attorney’s office for a copy of the tape. When she received
it two weeks later the tape scenes had been edited out. The City Attorney’s office
denied that the tapes had been tampered with.
Evidence tampering is being used in a larger context to impede free speech. Innocent
people are being charged and tried using doctored evidence, in part to create a
chilling effect on the right to express opinions unpopular with the government. Clear
examples of this happened in New York in 2004.
I-Witness Video
A volunteer-based group of videographers in New York City, I-Witness Video,
has been videotaping protests for years. Their work gained national acclaim in the
aftermath of the 2004 Republican National Convention (RNC). Over 200 I-Witness
volunteers were trained to document arrests and police activity at the protests that
ensued, making sure that their video evidence would be usable, if needed, in later
court proceedings. They worked in conjunction with legal observers from the
National Lawyers Guild who monitored most of the RNC demonstrations.147
I-Witness Video founding member Eileen Clancy explains: “There needs to be a
strategy to having cameras at demonstrations, from collecting the video, to holding
on to it, maintaining it with integrity, identifying the material on it, and putting it
together with the attorney, the defendants, photographs, and other information of the
story. That’s what’s really powerful. If we can keep the basic information, we can
bring it into the courtroom.”148
In fact, it was that careful process of watching hundreds of hours of arrest scenes on
video that led to the uncovering of doctored tapes. The I-Witness videos played a
key role in vindicating several individuals who were falsely arrested on disorderly
conduct charges. Videos were used in the defense of approximately 400 of the 1,806
people arrested during the Convention.
Discovering the Tampering—The Dennis Kyne Arrest
After the RNC, Eileen Clancy discovered a discrepancy between I-Witness video
coverage of the protests, and the police testimony regarding events caught on tape.
Clancy noticed differences between a video of an arrest sequence of Dennis Kyne,
the first of the 1,806 protestors arrested during the convention to have his case
brought to trial, and the same sequence of events on a tape provided by the police
department in the discovery phase of a civil litigation.

Government Tactics that Suppress Free Speech

47

CUT BY CUT, SIDE BY SIDE
Eileen Clancy said that it had not occurred to I-Witness Video that the
police were editing tapes. “When we had to put these two tapes on
monitors next to each other and run them at the same time, and we sat
there when we saw the cut…I was astonished that this happened…
They took out the parts that basically prove he’s innocent.”
(Interview with Amy Goodman on Democracy Now!, April 14, 2005).

Police claimed that Kyne refused to walk down from the steps of the New York
Public Library, and as a result multiple officers had to carry him down to Fifth
Avenue. The arresting officer, Matthew Wohl, testified at Kyne’s trial that, consistent
with the allegations he swore to in the criminal complaint on which the prosecution
was based, he had observed Kyne engage in certain allegedly unlawful conduct,
and then arrested him. Defense attorneys turned over a videotape created by an
independent filmmaker (showing Kyne descending from the library on foot, with
Officer Wohl nowhere in sight) to the District Attorney and the District Attorney
dropped the case the next day.149
Clancy explained that in light of this discovery I-Witness will have to look at all the
police tapes for which they have their own recordings of the same event, and will
have to set the two tapes up side by side for laborious examination to see if other
edits were made. “These are tapes that came from the state, from the government,
that are handed over to defense attorneys and they are supposed to be for a particular
case. So, does that mean that the tapes then are going to be tailored in such a way
for each defendant? That they’re looking for each defendant and they’re just going
to give you certain bits that they deem useful to their side? And that’s really not how
it’s supposed to work.”150
The Kyne arrest was not an isolated incident.
The Alexander Dunlop Arrest
Alexander Dunlop was arrested during the convention when he found himself in
the middle of a Critical Mass protest while riding his bicycle to pick up sushi from
his favorite restaurant. Dunlop was handcuffed, forcefully detained overnight, and
charged with two misdemeanors. When offered the opportunity to plea-bargain, he
refused, saying of a plea: “It really restricts what you’re able to do, and what job you
can get, the travel you can do. It might have ruined my life. It really might have.”151

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When Eileen Clancy discovered that she had a police videotape documenting
Dunlop’s arrest, she compared it to the same tape police officers had released of the
arrest, and found that crucial scenes were edited from the police copy of the tape
turned over in discovery. Clancy’s tape showed Dunlop peacefully submitting to
arrest, while the police tape panned to a shot of a stop sign instead, flashing back to
an image of Dunlop standing with other arrestees a few moments later. An image
of the police officer who detained Dunlop was also missing from the police tape,
blurring the identity of those who were responsible for Dunlop’s arrest.
Manhattan District Attorney representatives claim that a lab technician accidentally
cut the tape and removed the missing scenes, but no lab technician has been
identified in connection with the editing mistake. Clancy commented on this
explanation: “I have no idea how this could happen accidentally. People who work
with these kinds of materials understand that it’s actually a very complicated set of
things you have to do to make an edit like that. You have to find and locate this man
who’s a stranger to you in this chaotic scene where it’s very dark, and he’s only in
the scene for a fleeting moment. To make an edit is not a one-button operation. There
are multiple, multiple steps. You do it intentionally. Perhaps if you accidentally take
out one piece, though I don’t understand how this would happen, I don’t understand
how you take out another piece that is several minutes later.”152
The second police videotape provided by I-Witness Video afforded ample evidence
to dismiss all charges against Dunlop.
In another instance, Josh Banno was accused of setting fire to a dragon float at an
August 29 protest, and was one of the few protesters at the RNC to face felony
charges and spend a week in jail on $200,000 bail.153 Mr. Banno’s defense team
turned over a videotape to the District Attorney in November or December that
showed Mr. Banno was standing away from the fire. After prosecutors claimed
the tape was not completely exculpatory, the defense team found a series of
photographs—in time sequence—that showed conclusively that Mr. Banno could not
have set the fires.154
The case was subsequently dismissed.
Damaging the Integrity of the Criminal Justice System
Former district attorney Michael Conroy represented Alexander Dunlop in his
criminal case. During the trial the District Attorney made a statement that the
arresting officer was backing down from her affadavit statement—in other words the
District Attorney had withheld potentially exculpatory information. Conroy noted
that providing doctored tapes has done a disservice to the entire criminal justice
system. Having served on the board of the National District Attorney’s Association
and as a former Assistant District Attorney, Conroy knew first-the risks when the

Government Tactics that Suppress Free Speech

49

Long-time video archivist and political activist Eileen Clancy of I-Witness Video has been monitoring police activity in the United States and Ireland since 1997. Clancy’s documentation was
instrumental in having charges dropped in several criminal cases against protesters.
PHOTO: IAN HEAD

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defense, prosecution and police do not cooperate: “The police, the prosecutors
should be open when they have a case. They should be open with discovery. They
should be open with their evidence and work hand in hand with the defense to make
sure that an innocent person is not convicted. It certainly threatens the basis of trust
that should exist in the courtroom between D.A.s and defense attorneys; and the
comments that were made later with regard to the police officer that I never heard
about, I should have heard about from the District Attorney’s office.”155
Members of Congress Call for Investigation
In response to the New York Times coverage of the police-alteration of evidence,
members of Congress156 raised concerns in April 2005 about police misconduct
and perjury at the Republican National Convention. Calling reports of misconduct
“credible and troubling,” they urged the Justice Department to investigate criminal
deprivations of rights under color of law and civil violations of the police pattern and
practice laws. 157
A year later, on May 17, 2006, civil liberties organizations learned that in fact such
an investigation had been launched. They learned of it when the New York Times
reported that as part of the FBI’s criminal civil rights investigation of the New York
Police Department, it was seeking to interview jailed activists whose charges were
later dropped. The NYPD’s chief spokesperson Paul J. Browne said an internal
investigation had been opened into Mr. Kyne’s arrest in September 2005, working
with the F.B.I. and the Manhattan District Attorney’s office.158
A week before the New York Times reported on the investigation, the Civilian
Complaint Review Board, the city agency that monitors reports of police abuse,
criticized two deputy chiefs for their performance during the convention, saying that
because the chiefs did not use bullhorns, some of the arrests of 240 people at two
demonstrations on August 31 were unnecessary. 159
Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly has defended the chiefs, asserting that
hundreds of thousands of demonstrators dissented freely and openly in the streets
during the convention as the police kept public order and fulfilled their antiterrorism duties.
Conclusion
Police doctoring of evidence that would exonerate innocent individuals,
accompanied by police perjury to justify false arrests, was exposed in New York
thanks to the diligence and perseverance of independent videographers. Although
many of the criminal charges brought during the 2004 Republican National
Convention against protesters and bystanders were dropped as a result, a question

Government Tactics that Suppress Free Speech

51

remains about how many other illegal actions by police were not documented
and exposed.
When the very branch of government charged with enforcing the nation’s laws
breaks the law, the integrity of the police and prosecutors is significantly damaged.
Such actions reflect poorly on the judgment of police as a whole. And they call into
question how officers exercise discretion, and whether they can be trusted to respect
lawful First Amendment activities. Expression cannot be truly free unless police can
be relied on to act with honor.

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During the 2000 Democratic National Convention, Los Angeles police fired rubber bullets at
Carol Sobel, co-chair of the National Lawyers Guild’s Mass Defense Committee.
PHOTO: ROD GORNEY

Government Tactics that Suppress Free Speech

53

Court Settlements and Decrees to Protect Free
Speech and Political Activity
I went to the 2000 DNC prepared for trouble. I saw then-LAPD Chief Bernard Parks
brandishing his new toys—an arsenal of “less-lethal” weapons—cavalierly pledging
there would be no replay of the Seattle WTO in his city. That’s why, along with pens,
paper, and other tools of legal observing, I had a hockey helmet in my backpack. Not
that it did much good. It didn’t protect me from the pepper spray in my face or the
club across my back. And it certainly didn’t help when I got shot.
The rubber bullet hit me on the thigh as I tried to run away, knocking me off my feet
and leaving me helpless. Fortunately, someone helped me up and dragged me away.
The bruise lasted several weeks, the tissue damage for weeks longer, and the psychic
scars to this day. Since then, I’ve been to demonstrations with huge, menacing police
presence, and it makes me angry, and more than a little frightened.
As I watched the LAPD beat peaceful demonstrators at the Immigrant Rights
march on May Day [seven years later] I wasn’t surprised. Disregard for the
demonstrators’ rights seems to be ingrained in the LAPD, no matter how much
settlements, consent decrees or court judgments cost them. They’ll do it again.

P

– Dave Saldana, Assistant Professor of
Journalism at Iowa State University, attorney,
and NLG member
olice misconduct litigation around the country has resulted in several
settlements to help restrain over-reaching law enforcement and faciliate the
exercise of free speech.

Washington, D.C.
On November 21, 2006, attorneys from the Partnership for Civil Justice (PCJ)
announced a settlement of its lawsuit against the District of Columbia and
the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) that arose in connection with the
demonstrations at the 2001 inauguration of George W. Bush.160 As a result of this
federal litigation, the MPD will institute significant changes in its police practices
and training programs with regard to demonstrations.
The lawsuit uncovered and exposed the MPD’s long-term domestic spying operation
in which undercover officers were sent to infiltrate protest groups absent any
allegations of criminal activity. This led to a D.C. Council investigation and efforts
to reign in police spying, incorporated into the First Amendment Rights and Police

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Standards Act which became effective in January 2005. The lawsuit also revealed
that felonious attacks on lawful protestors along the parade route were carried out
by MPD plain-clothed detectives on an undercover counterintelligence detail. The
MPD initially denied that these men were their officers until PCJ established it in
the litigation. These attacks gained national attention including on NOW with Bill
Moyers and in the movie Unconstitutional.
A critical change as a result of this litigation concerns the use of force against
demonstrators. The Washington Post reported that the litigation uncovered evidence
that the police had suspended rules requiring officers to report on the use of force
against demonstrators, and “had pressed undercover officers to infiltrate protest
groups and sought to provoke protesters and uninvolved bystanders by attacking
them with batons and pepper spray.”161 Carl Messineo, attorney and co-founder of
the Partnership for Civil Justice stated, “In other words, the police had been given
a green light to assault protestors knowing that they would not have to report their
actions or acknowledge that force had been used.”162
Under the settlement, the police department will revise its police handbook, and
training, to provide protections for protesters, including a requirement that officers
report use of force during mass demonstrations and forbid arrests without evidence
that a crime was committed. It will include restrictions and prohibitions on the use
of police lines against protestors and will instruct officers that parading without a
permit is not an arrestable offense.
D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams, at the request of the Metropolitan Police
Department, announced that he would refuse to sign the bill. Nonetheless, it became
law over their objections.
Los Angeles, California
In June 2005, the City of Los Angeles entered into a settlement agreement in
National Lawyers Guild, et al. v. City of Los Angeles, et al., an action arising from
the use of unlawful force and disruption of lawful assemblies during the 2000
Democratic National Convention, as well as at a demonstration on October 22,
2000. The settlement provided for six changes in the policy and practices of the
Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) as applied to demonstrations. The terms
of the settlement provide that demonstrators participating in lawful assemblies are
not to be prevented from using public sidewalks adjacent to a lawful march route.
The terms also provide that LAPD officers are not to use their motorcycles as a
weapon of crowd control against peaceful demonstrators. Less-lethal munitions may
only be used on “armed suspects or individuals showing aggressive or combative
actions. Less-lethal weapons are not to be used on a lawfully dispersing crowd or
individual.”163 The settlement provides that before declaring an unlawful assembly
the LAPD Incident Commander should evaluate the feasibility of isolating and

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55

Among the changes adopted by the D.C. Council, the First
Amendment Rights and Police Standards Act:
●

Prohibits use of police lines to encircle participants engaged in First
Amendment protected assembly as a general matter. Police lines
may only be used against groups engaged in First Amendment
activities where there is probable cause to arrest individuals and the
decision has been made to arrest those particular individuals.

●

Requires that police give notice and the opportunity to leave and
specifies warnings and content of warnings that must be given,
including location of exits so that people can leave.

●

Requires that MPD members wear or display their nameplates and
badge, and not remove or cover identifying information.

●

Requires that officers wear enhanced methods of identification at
First Amendment assemblies including greater visibility on riot gear.

●

Prohibits use of riot gear as a general matter at First Amendment assemblies, without greater showing of cause.

●

Requires that persons arrested in connection with First Amendment
assemblies be given written notice of all their release options.

●

Requires that persons arrested at First Amendment assemblies who
are eligible for release be released within four hours of arrest.

●

Requires that the MPD provide documentation and justification for
each arrest made in connection with a First Amendment assembly.

arresting individuals responsible for unlawful conduct, and should pursue such
action if feasible.
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Albuquerque lawyers brought a joint National Lawyers Guild and ACLU sponsored
lawsuit against the Albuquerque Police Department in 2004. The lawsuit stemmed
from suppression of First Amendment rights of protesters after the U.S. government
invaded Iraq.

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Civil rights attorneys Mara Verheyden-Hilliard (right) and Carl Messineo are co-founders of
the public interest legal organization the Partnership for Civil Justice in Washington, D.C. The
Partnership’s success in representing hundreds of activists and political organizations has won
wide acclaim. The Washington Post called Verheyden-Hilliard and Messineo “The Constitutional
Sheriffs for a New Protest Generation.” (David Montgomery, “Stirring a Cause,” May 12, 2003.)
PHOTO: COPYRIGHT 2003, THE WASHINGTON POST. PHOTO BY DUDLEY M. BROOKS.
REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION.

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57

Following the filing of the lawsuit, the mayor’s office realized that the ordinance on
the books was unconstitutional. In negotiations separate from the protest lawsuit,
National Lawyers Guild and ACLU attorneys negotiated a new ordinance entitled
the Albuquerque Free Expression and Parade Ordinance.
The ordinance provides that if a demonstration begins on the sidewalk but attracts
an unexpected number of participants such that the demonstration begins to occupy
a portion of the street, the Albuquerque Police Department shall accommodate the
protest by closing a segment, lane or portion of the street where so doing will not
jeopardize the demonstrators or unreasonably inhibit the flow of traffic on a major
traffic route.
Oakland, California
In 2004, the Oakland Police Department (OPD) agreed to implement wide reforms
to stop the use of less-lethal weapons against protesters as a result of class action
litigation. Two lawsuits had been brought by the National Lawyers Guild, the ACLU
of Northern California and several civil rights attorneys, after police opened fire on
peaceful antiwar protesters at the Port of Oakland in April 2003. Nearly 60 people,
including dockworkers from Local 10, ILWU, were hit by wooden bullets, sting ball
grenades and shot filled bean bags, resulting in numerous injuries. The new crowd
control policy forbids the indiscriminate use of such weapons, as well as rubber
bullets, pepper spray and police motorcycles, to move or control crowds.
With this agreement, Oakland became the first city in the country to establish a
policy banning the use of less-lethal weapons for crowd control. In a statement
announcing the settlement, National Lawyers Guild attorney Rachel Lederman said,
“The recent death of a 21-year-old college student in Boston, after a baseball game,
serves as a tragic reminder of the serious injuries that can result when so-called
less-lethal weapons are used against crowds. Hopefully, this settlement will prevent
future tragedies and will serve as a model for other police departments throughout
the nation.”164
The settlement agreement includes a new “Crowd Management Policy” that strictly
limits the use of force, and mandates that a primary goal of the Oakland Police
Department in their planning for and management of demonstrations must be the
protection of the right to assemble and demonstrate. It forbids the use of crowd
dispersal methods that create a risk of hurting protesters and bystanders (stun guns,
tasers, dogs, and stinger grenades, for example), and forbids the use of bean bags,
aerosol pepper spray and batons against crowds of passive resisters.
The agreement also provides a comprehensive framework for policing First
Amendment activity and other crowd events, including requiring the police to give
clear and audible orders to the crowd and to allow time for individuals to comply

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before taking enforcement action. In addition, officers are to arrest individuals who
refuse to follow legitimate police orders, rather than using weapons or other force to
move them.
Oakland was also forced to pay more than $1.5 million in damages, fees and costs to
the injured demonstrators and dockworkers.
Denver, Colorado
In violation of a city prohibition against collecting First Amendment related
intelligence, from the early 1980s until 2002, the Denver Police created files on over
200 organizations and over 3,000 individuals. In 2002, the ACLU filed American
Friends Service Committee v. City and County of Denver,165 a lawsuit charging that,
beginning in the early 1980s, Denver police were monitoring lawful protest and First
Amendment activities.
Some of the groups monitored were the American Friends Service Committee,
Amnesty International and many others with no history of criminal activity. Police
intercepted e-mails, recorded license plate numbers of vehicles at demonstrations,
and even infiltrated advocacy group meetings.
A settlement reached in May 2003 provides that Denver police must have a
reasonable suspicion of criminal activity in order to collect such First Amendmentrelated information.
Columbus, Georgia
Each November the School of the Americas Watch holds a protest on public property
immediately outside of Fort Benning. Their nonviolent protest seeks to pressure the
federal government to stop funding to the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security
Cooperation, known as the “School of the Americas.” In November 2002, just a
week before the protest, the City of Columbus instituted a policy that all protesters
must pass through a metal detector at a checkpoint a few blocks from the protest site.
If metal was detected, police would search the person and his or her possessions.
Police calculated that protesters need arrive 90 minutes or two hours ahead of time
to get through the checkpoints.
The School of the Americas Watch sought a temporary restraining order and
preliminary injunction, saying that the searches violated their First and Fourth
Amendment rights. The court dismissed the complaint, and the City conducted the
searches. On appeal, and after the City conducted metal detector searches at the
2003 protest, the Eleventh Circuit ruled that the searches did indeed violate the First
and Fourth Amendments to the Constitution.

Government Tactics that Suppress Free Speech

59

The Court found that “the ability of protesters to avoid the searches by declining to
participate in the protest does not alleviate the constitutional infirmity of the City’s
search policy; indeed, the very purpose of the unconstitutional conditions doctrine
is to prevent the Government from subtly pressuring citizens, whether purposely or
inadvertently, into surrendering their rights.”166

Governmental Reversals of Constitutional Gains
While these, and other, court settlements are positive developments, they come in a
disturbing context that suggests they merely slow the ongoing erosion of the right
to dissent. Some cities, such as New York and Chicago, are reversing longstanding
consent decrees in response to police or city attorney requests. Other cities’
legislators are rewriting earlier restrictions, guidelines that were often created based
on the New York Handschu consent decree.
The Handschu Consent Decree in New York City
In New York City, police investigations of individuals or groups engaging in
political activities are governed by a consent decree from the lawsuit Handschu v.
Special Services Division.167 Known as the Handschu Settlement, it was agreed to
in 1980 by a plaintiff class numbering in the millions and the New York City Police
Department along with other municipal defendants.168 The decree took effect in
1986, and has since been loosened in response to the City and police department’s
assertion that it hindered terrorism investigations.
The Handschu case was originally filed in response to increased surveillance by
the New York City Police Department (NYPD) during the era of 1960s activism of
organizations and individuals who were critical of the government. The plaintiffs
in Handschu (including Guild member Barbara Handschu) alleged that the NYPD
deterred them from First Amendment activity by using informers, infiltration,
interrogation, surveillance, summary punishment, and by creating a fearful
atmosphere at public gatherings.
The settlement created a set of court-ordered guidelines that the police had to follow
in conducting investigations of political, religious and associational activity. The
decree also established an “Authority” within the police department to oversee the
police Intelligence Division’s activities, which had a civilian member appointed by
the Mayor.169 The NYPD was prohibited from investigating political activity, and
was only allowed to investigate after the police department determined that there
was specific information that a person or group carrying out political activity was
engaged in or about to engage in criminal activity.170 The settlement prohibited
creation of files on groups or individuals based solely on their political, religious,
sexual or economic preference.171

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The settlement established a means for individuals believing they were subjects of
surveillance to obtain confirmation of such surveillance. It also contained a “cure”
provision where even an attorney chosen by an individual class member could ask
the police to cease an activity proscribed by the guidelines as a condition precedent
to moving to hold the police in contempt of the consent decree.
In 2002, twenty-two years after the settlement was signed, the NYPD asked to
modify the consent decree, claiming that the agreement was too restrictive, would
inhibit the investigation of terrorism, and jeopardize the safety of New Yorkers.
U.S. District Court Judge Charles Haight agreed with the NYPD that the threat of
terrorism since the attacks of September 11, 2001 warranted modification of the
consent decree.172 The modification to the guidelines substantially weakened
the decree.
As a condition to obtaining the modification, the federal court required the police to
adopt additional guidelines modeled on the Justice Department’s 2002 guidelines
for political investigations by the FBI. At first, these were not formally part of a
court order, but after the police were caught conducting political interrogations
of antiwar demonstrators only days after the court approved the modification, the
court re-incorporated the additional guidelines in its decree.173 Since early 2004,
the plaintiff class and police have been in repeated litigation about the meaning of
the additional guidelines. The police department took the position that they are not
under a court-ordered obligation to follow the new guidelines, and that the new
guidelines and the decree are no longer enforceable in court. In June 2006, Judge
Haight “clarified” that the new guidelines are indeed part of the modification of the
original consent decree.174 That ruling came in the course of a pending motion by the
plaintiff class that the new guidelines, like the original guidelines, prohibit police
photo surveillance of class members participating in lawful demonstrations and First
Amendment activity.
Judge Haight’s ruling on a motion to enjoin police photo surveillance of lawful
demonstrations was released on February 15, 2007. He wrote: “The videotaping or
photographing by the NYPD of any individual or individuals engaging in political
activity must be conducted in accordance with the Modified Handschu Guidelines,
and in a manner consistent with this Opinion.”175
However, the modified decree opened the door for widespread investigations of
political groups across the nation and the world before the 2004 GOP Convention
in New York, and once again included tactics like infiltration and surveillance.
On March 25, 2007 the New York Times reported that the New York City Police
Department conducted broad spying before the Republican National Convention.
The article quoted David Cohen, the deputy police commissioner for intelligence
and a former senior official at the Central Intelligence Agency as saying that in

Government Tactics that Suppress Free Speech

61

combating terrorism it was necessary to spy on domestic political activists, and of
writing in an affidavit dated September 12, 2002: “Given the range of activities that
may be engaged in by the members of a sleeper cell in the long period of preparation
for an act of terror, the entire resources of the NYPD must be available to conduct
investigations into political activity and intelligence-related issues.”176
On June 13, 2007, Judge Haight reversed his February order limiting New York
police videotaping of individuals at public gatherings, saying that he alone lacked
the power to enforce the guidelines.

The Court found that “the ability of protesters to
avoid the searches by declining to participate in
the protest does not alleviate the constitutional
infirmity of the City’s search policy; indeed, the very
purpose of the unconstitutional conditions doctrine
is to prevent the Government from subtly pressuring
citizens, whether purposely or inadvertently, into
surrendering their rights.”
Chicago’s Red Squad Consent Decree
In 2001 the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals modified Chicago’s Alliance
to End Repression Consent Decree. Also known as the Red Squad federal consent
decree, it had been signed in 1981 and prohibited police from spying on, gathering
information on, or disrupting the constitutionally protected activities of political
groups.177
Mayor Richard Daley sought modification of the consent decree in federal court
in 1997, claiming that it was impeding investigations of gang activity. The City
asked permission to return to the practice of videotaping and spying on street
demonstrations. The ACLU and the Chicago Committee to Defend the Bill of Rights
contested the City’s request.
After District Court Judge Anne Williams denied the City’s claim, the City appealed
to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, and in January 2001, a three-judge panel of the
7th Circuit Court stripped the consent decree.
The 2001 modification came after Chief Judge Richard A. Posner wrote that
the decree “rendered the police helpless to do anything to protect the public.”178
The court approved a modified decree permitting police to spy on demonstrators

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and other groups. The modified decree provides that intelligence gathering must
be documented and also calls for both internal and external audits to monitor
compliance with the consent order. The police rewrote the regulations covering
political dissent, and no longer claim that they wanted to videotape demonstrations
for training purposes. They now admit that they videotape with the express purpose
of identifying individual protesters for later action.
After several groups threatened to disrupt the Trans-Atlantic Business Dialogue—a
meeting of international business leaders held in Chicago in 2002—according to an
internal police audit obtained in February 2004 by the Chicago Sun-Times, police
infiltrated the meetings of five protest groups in 2002 and a year after began four
other spying operations.179 Undercover officers attended meetings, rallies and events
of the Chicago Direct Action Network, the American Friends Service Committee, the
Autonomous Zone, Not in Our Name, and Anarchist Black Cross. They videotaped
and audiotaped the protests.
These groups, along with the National Lawyers Guild, held a press conference
on February 25, 2004 at the Chicago Police Department headquarters to address
disclosures that they were targets of infiltration and spying by the CPD.
Detroit, Michigan
The Detroit Police Department entered into consent decrees in 2003 aimed at the
department’s use of force (and treatment of prisoners). On May 16, 2007 the Police
Department asked a judge to relax the steps needed to comply with the court orders,
saying that the federal monitor should trust the department rather than requiring
police to demonstrate compliance.
The court had appointed the New York consulting company Kroll Inc. to serve as
the police department’s federal monitor. The April 2007 quarterly monitoring report
noted that of 86 requirements looked at that quarter, the department had complied
with 14, and failed to comply with 49. The other 23 were still being evaluated as of
this writing.180
The consent decrees were reached aver a 30-month federal investigation into dozens
of fatal police shootings in Detroit, and how the police department handled them.
Over $100 million had been paid to settle lawsuits against the police.181
Portland, Oregon
Since 1981, under Oregon law, police are not allowed to gather or maintain
information on the political, religious or social views or individuals or groups unless
such information relates directly to a criminal investigation and reasonable grounds
exist to believe that such individuals or groups may be involved. Despite this law,

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63

the Portland Police Bureau has continued to engage in gathering and maintaining
such information. Police files that should have been destroyed in 1981 were kept
until 2002. They contained surveillance records showing that police kept files on
political activists from the 1960s until the early 1980s.
In April 2005 Portland became the first city to withdraw from its local Joint
Terrorism Task Force agreement with the FBI. The agreement gave unfettered
discretion to Portland police to not only investigate, but also obstruct, political
activities of Portland. Local officers assigned to the JTF are deputized and act much
like FBI agents, supervised only by the FBI.182
Conclusion
Police misconduct litigation around the country reveals a striking similarity of
tactics being used by state and local governments to silence the rights of assembly
and free speech. Tactics include denying permits based on the content of speech,
creating “free speech” zones, using pop-up police lines to trap protesters and
conduct mass false arrests and detentions, and using less-lethal weapons on passive
assemblers. The uniformity of approach and the relentless application of aggressive
policing tactics suggest a highly organized threat to civil liberties. Court settlements
and consent decrees arising from litigation by the National Lawyers Guild and
other groups have helped to hold in check the unfettered abuse by police of First
Amendment freedoms.
Nonetheless, while progress made by such settlements has been steady, at the same
time several cities such as New York are diluting or dissolving important limits on
police spying that were enacted after the government’s counter intelligence program
(COINTELPRO) of decades ago. Important restrictions were placed on FBI spying
on political and religious organizations after a U.S. Senate Select Committee
disclosed the longstanding and wide-ranging surveillance and infiltration program
that targeted antiwar activists, religious and political organizations and thousands of
other organizations and individuals.
Current intelligence initiatives, and measures to dissolve longstanding consent
decrees, are rapidly undoing the reforms put in place three decades ago.

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San Diego Critical Mass bicyclists in a 2004 ride. PHOTO: MICHEL MARTINEZ

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Case Study: Bicyclists Under Fire
‘Smolka tackled Adrienne!’ gasped the voice on the other end of the telephone line. I
was answering incoming calls from Legal Observers monitoring the monthly Critical
Mass bicycle ride in New York, and was helping to track police arrests of riders
around Manhattan. The caller was upset and sounded frightened as he watched and
reported on events unfurling before his eyes in busy Times Square on a Friday night.
I knew immediately that he was referring to police chief Bruce Smolka who had
a reputation for heavy-handedness when dealing with protesters. I also knew that
the victim of his aggression was one of the National Lawyers Guild’s regular Legal
Observers, Adrienne Wheeler. I was instantly alarmed and recall thinking that this
time the police had really crossed the line by singling out one of our Observers. I
was sure that the police officers knew who she was and went after her for her visible
role. I felt so helpless sitting in the office, away from the fray.

C

– Grainne O’Neill, Legal Observer Dispatcher,
National Lawyers Guild NYC Chapter

ritical Mass is an event that occurs on the last Friday of every month in
cities around the world. Originating in San Francisco in 1992, Critical Mass
events have expanded to over 200 cities in fourteen different countries.
Lacking a formal leadership structure, the Critical Mass movement is coordinated
entirely by its participants, who ride together through city streets once a month
for what many call a “celebration of cycling.” The philosophy of Critical Mass is
encompassed in the motto “We’re not blocking traffic; we are traffic.”183 Because the
Critical Mass movement does not have a specific agenda, bicyclists attend the events
for a variety of reasons. Some come to show support for alternative energy sources,
and to protest the effects of automobile pollution and traffic congestion. Others do
not come to oppose any specific policies but view Critical Mass as a social event
where they have the ability to cycle safely with others.
Critical Mass provides a case study of several ways in which government action
has a chilling effect on free association and free speech. At the local and state
government levels, First Amendment violations occur when legislation is enacted
that targets specific individuals for activities that had previously been permissible or
occurred with lesser punishment. In some instances, proposed regulations are being
put forth by law enforcement, rather than legislators.
This presents two distinct problems. One is that after identifying individuals and
groups it deems a threat to national security, the government has been conducting
false arrests and misusing grand juries for investigative, and intimidation, purposes.

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66

The other is that the legislative function is being usurped by a small part of the
executive branch.
An examination of police response to Critical Mass rides in New York illustrates
both of these problems.
Police Abuse of Bicyclists
In recent years Critical Mass events in the United States have become targets of
domestic spying and surveillance. The movement has been subject to the same
patterns of police overreaching used at other demonstrations around the country.
Critical Mass rides had taken place largely without incident in New York for over ten
years before the police dramatically changed their response to the events in 2004.
Days before the Republican National Convention, on August 27, 2004, police
arrested 264 bicyclists for allegedly participating in that night’s Critical Mass
ride.184 Because the ride preceded the convention and was linked to protest of the
convention itself, the ride attracted more participants than usual; approximately
5,000 cyclists were estimated to have attended. The police based the arrests that day
in part on the fact that bicyclists were blocking side streets to keep the mass together,
just as the police had done during previous Critical Mass events. While some bicycle
riders may have committed traffic violations, there was no constitutional basis for
arresting them for such minor infractions—automobile drivers who commit similar
infractions usually receive a warning or traffic ticket. Before the convention’s end,
almost 100 or more bicyclists were arrested for allegedly participating in, or being
near, protests involving bicycles. Nearly all were charged with parading without a
permit and disorderly conduct.

While some bicycle riders may have committed
traffic violations, there was no constitutional
basis for arresting them for such minor
infractions—automobile drivers who commit
similar infractions usually receive a warning or
traffic ticket.
Bicyclists reported being pepper-sprayed and assaulted by both uniformed and
undercover police agents. In October 2004, five Critical Mass participants in New
York filed a lawsuit against the NYPD, challenging its seizures of their bicycles on
the night of the September 2004 Critical Mass ride. In what Federal Judge William
Pauley III characterized as a “reflex action,” the City counter-sued, seeking an
injunction against them and “all others acting in concert with them” that would have

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Chasing Fish in a Barrel
A New York Times editorial of December 29, 2006 commented on the
vast police resources devoted to Critical Mass: “The New York police,
who deem Critical Mass an illegal parade and have drafted a law that
would essentially ban it, have seemed obsessed with the rides since one
coincided with the Republican National Convention in August 2004….
An amazing array of police resources—scooters, vans, unmarked cars
and helicopters—chase a quarry that looks like fish in a barrel. Police
vehicles race the wrong way and on sidewalks, posing a greater public
danger than the bikers.”

prevented future Critical Mass rides, or pre-ride gatherings in a City park, from
proceeding without permits. In October and December, Judge Pauley ruled in the
bicyclists’ favor, finding that whether the City’s parade permitting scheme applied to
Critical Mass rides as a “novel and complex question of state law,” and rejecting the
City’s injunctive bids.185
More Police Perjury and Assaults
High level police officers in plain clothes have engaged in singling out and
assaulting several bicycle riders since August 2004. Another officer committed
perjury by saying he had witnessed a traffic infraction when he had not, saying later
that his lieutenant had ordered him to say so.186
At the February 2006 Critical Mass ride, an NYPD chief tackled graduate student
and Guild Legal Observer Adrienne Wheeler as she rode her bicycle, bringing
her to the ground and resulting in several injuries. The plain-clothed officer who
attacked Wheeler was Assistant Chief Bruce Smolka, the borough commander of
the Manhattan South precinct. He did not identify himself as a police officer, nor did
he ask her to stop her bicycle before bringing her to the ground. Bruce Bentley, a
lawyer with the National Lawyers Guild, commented dryly on the incident, “I’m not
aware of drivers in cars being pulled from their cars and thrown to the ground as part
of being issued a traffic ticket.”187
As was proven later in court, a police officer lied about what he saw Ms. Wheeler
doing. NYPD Officer Alfred Ortiz said that he personally saw Wheeler ride her
bicycle the wrong way on a one-way street. In September 2006, a traffic court judge
dismissed charges against Wheeler after Ortiz admitted he gave false statements
when he swore that he personally saw Wheeler riding the wrong way. The National
Lawyers Guild New York City Chapter provided videotapes of the incident to the

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Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) in March showing clearly that Smolka
did not identify himself as an officer nor issue any warning beforehand.
This was not the first incident in which Smolka physically assaulted a female
bicyclist. In a federal lawsuit, Cynthia Greenberg alleged that Smolka kicked her
repeatedly in the head, “accompanied by graphic verbal invective—an obscenity,
combined with a scatological reference,”188 as he tried to arrest her at a May 5, 2003
rally outside 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan.189 A videotape shows that the Assistant
Chief’s left knee hit Greenberg’s head with enough force that she grabbed her head,
visibly in pain. In another incident on the night of the April 2005 Critical Mass ride,
Smolka tried to remove a woman “straddling her bike and walking it.” Other officers
joined him in pushing her into a police van.190
In late April 2007, the city of New York reached a $150,000 settlement in
Greenberg’s lawsuit accusing Smolka of kicking her in the head. National Lawyers
Guild member Jonathan Moore was one of Greenberg’s attorneys; he noted that the
amount of the settlement indicated that the city and the police department knew they
would have a difficult time winning a trial.191 “The fact they are willing to pay that
amount of money is a de facto admission, if you will, that they knew what Smolka
did was wrong,” Moore said. “They didn’t want to risk showing that video to
a jury.”192
Police Department Proposes Parade Regulations
In 2006, the New York City Police Department (NYPD) proposed a set of restrictive
regulations requiring permits for a host of mundane activities such as riding bicycles
and gathering with friends on sidewalks—all prompted by an increased suspicion of
bicycle activists.
Creating laws targeting specific groups is unnecessary when regulations already exist
to address the proscribed behavior. And such laws are usually found unconstitutional
by reviewing courts.
In Washington, D.C., for example, a ban on demonstrations on Capitol grounds
was held to be unconstitutional. Saying that security concerns do not outweigh the
right to free speech, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down the 30-yearold ban.193 Litigation challenging the regulations began in 1997—well before the
2001 attacks—when Capitol Police arrested artist Robert Lederman for distributing
leaflets in the no-demonstration zone. Security concerns infused the case, however,
after September 11, as the government argued that it should be afforded additional
latitude to prohibit demonstrations. Citing what has been dubbed the “tourist
standard,” the Court rejected the notion that demonstrators pose a greater security
risk to the Capitol building and its occupants than do pedestrians, who may travel
in groups of any size, carry any number of bags and boxes, and stay as long as they

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69

At the February 2006 Critical Mass ride, a high-ranking New York Police Department chief
attacked graduate student and Guild Legal Observer Adrienne Wheeler. The plain-clothed officer
who tackled Wheeler was Assistant Chief Bruce Smolka, the borough commander of the Manhattan South precinct. He did not identify himself as a police officer, nor did he ask her to stop her
bicycle before wrestling her. PHOTO: IAN HEAD

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wish—all anonymously. While the government may restrict the size and manner
of protests, the appeals court held that it cannot ban them outright from a public
place.194
Such targeted legislation curbs individuals’ free speech rights, and in singling out
certain kinds of actions, denies other non-activist bicyclists equal protection under
the law. In attempting to penalize groups for actions that have a political message,
resulting regulations are usually so broad in scope that they encompass others
lawfully engaged in similar activities—in the case of the New York bicyclists the
laws would also affect recreational riders, school groups, and tourists.
Infiltration and Surveillance
In addition to devoting enormous resources to openly monitoring and making arrests
at Critical Mass rides, the police have also engaged in covert surveillance of the
monthly events.
Unidentified police are often planted by the NYPD to obtain video footage of the
cycling events, and surveillance is conducted without warrants. The New York Times
helped to expose the fact that plain-clothed police officers actively participate in
Critical Mass events to manipulate the outcome of the rides.195 National Lawyers
Guild member Gideon Oliver, a civil rights attorney who has represented many of
the hundreds of bicyclists arrested in connection with Critical Mass rides in New
York between 2004 and 2006, commented on the increased police surveillance at
these events: “Undercover officers have been a regular fixture at Critical Mass rides
since at least August 2004. They interact with bicyclists. Some undercover officers
participate in rides. Other undercover officers take Polaroid pictures and video
footage. In some cases they are even fake-arrested—handcuffed, placed in vans, and
later set free.”196
Police Hostility Around the Country
Police harassment of Critical Mass participants extends beyond New York. In
Spokane, Washington in November 2005, less than ten minutes into a ride, police
officers used excessive force to tackle and arrest several participants. In Reno,
Nevada in January 2005, bikers were handcuffed and threatened with jail time for
minor traffic violations.197 On April 28, 2006 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Critical
Mass bicyclists claimed to have been chased by city police. One participant, Nichali
Ciaccio noted, “The police had a distinct, intended plan to shut down the bike ride
whether or not laws were broken. For most of us, this is no contention at all: it is
strikingly obvious. If you’ve been on any one of the [Critical] Mass shut downs by
police, it’s clear that the crackdown is predetermined and part of a systematic plan to
destabilize the Critical Mass movement.”198 The Milwaukee police chase culminated
in six unlawful arrests, and 15 other bikers were unlawfully ticketed. At a 2006

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71

Critical Mass event in Denver, Colorado, nearly half of the 150 riders were given
traffic tickets199 and their bicycles confiscated.200
Larry Hildes, a National Lawyers Guild member in Washington state who represents
Critical Mass riders, said, “We had a supervising officer in Berkeley insist that
Critical Mass was only protected by the First Amendment when they were standing
still. They have two rights at play, the First Amendment right to protest and to
symbolic speech and free expression in a traditional public forum (the streets),
and the right of bicyclists to be considered traffic equal to cars even though they
move slower, for a variety of public policy and environmental reasons.”201 Guild
member Carol Sobel further noted, “It seems to me that there is frequently a conflict
between the exercise of expressive rights in traditional public forums and ‘public
convenience.’ The health of our democracy demands that free speech be given
greater respect than convenience.”202
FreeWheels Support for Bicyclists
In April 2005, a group of activists, including National Lawyers Guild members
Dave Rankin and Mark Taylor, founded the non-profit organization FreeWheels to
provide support for Critical Mass cyclists who were targets of police harassment
in New York City. At each Critical Mass event since the organization’s founding,
FreeWheels affiliates have offered arrestees food and water, loaner bicycles, and
legal advice and assistance. FreeWheels has also initiated the FreeWheels Bicycle
Defense Fund, which helps to alleviate the financial burden of court costs for Critical
Mass participants. Dave Rankin notes: “As long as there are police on the streets and
folks who want to ride, FreeWheels and the Lawyers Guild will be there.”

“Undercover officers have been a regular fixture at
Critical Mass rides since at least August 2004. They
interact with bicyclists. Some undercover officers
participate in rides. Other undercover officers take
Polaroid pictures and video footage. In some cases
they are even fake-arrested—handcuffed, placed in
vans, and later set free.”
- Gideon Oliver, civil rights attorney
An Onerous Parade Permit Law
In January 2006, New York City Criminal Court Judge Gerald Harris in People v.
Bezjak, et al.,203 declared the City’s parade permit law to be “hopelessly overbroad”
and one that “constitutes a burden on free expression that is more than the First

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Amendment can bear.”204 The written verdict dismissed the “parading without a
permit” charges against all of the eight individuals who were arrested at a January
2005 Critical Mass bicycle ride, but held each guilty of disorderly conduct.205 Part
of the reason the permit law is unconstitutional, Judge Harris found, is that if a
bystander unknowingly partakes in a permit-less march, he or she may be arrested or
even imprisoned.
Gideon Oliver noted after the verdict that under the parade law, a law that the court
clearly found unconstitutional, the NYPD has arrested and prosecuted hundreds of
people since August 2004.
New York City Police Department Enacts Burdensome Parade Regulations
Even though Judge Harris called the New York parade permit law burdensome and
overbroad, in late August 2006 the NYPD proposed parade regulations that were
even more impractical. The proposed regulations could have resulted in arrest for
parading without a permit for any group of two or more cyclists or pedestrians
traveling down a public street, who violate any traffic law, rule or regulation. Every
group of 35 of more pedestrians planning to walk on the sidewalk, such as school
children, would have been required to obtain a permit and approved route from the
NYPD or would be subject to arrest. And any group of 20 or more cyclists would
have had to obtain a permit and approved route from the NYPD or would be subject
to arrest.206
The rules would have essentially eliminated spontaneous gatherings, as people
would be required to file for permits months in advance. The burden of having small
groups try to navigate the complex police bureaucracy and negotiate the particulars
of their events: which sidewalk they will be on, where they will make turns, how
long they will be there, is an overly high burden on rights to assembly and free
speech. The rules were so cumbersome in terms of who they would impact that
school field trips, site-seeing tours, funerals, and school walks to the park would take
place under risk of arrest.
According to a New York Times editorial,
The department’s proposed parade law—which would greatly restrict
the right of assembly for even small groups—goes overboard and
isn’t likely to stop the monthly rides anyway. Considering that more
than 200 cyclists have died in traffic in New York over the last
decade, including two hit by motorists on a bike path recently, the
department should have better priorities. The police should pay more
attention to the real problems—everyday cyclists who ignore red
lights and one-way street signs, and motorists who crowd and cut off
bikers.207

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73

Many New Yorkers objected both to the content of the proposed regulations and to
the fact that they were being drafted by the NYPD and not the City Council. Great
concern existed that the regulations would afford the police the power to selectively
arrest and detain people for things as common as walking and bicycling. Uniform
enforcement of this law would be both impractical and financially detrimental to
the City. What if a walking tour unexpectedly attracts 36 people? It seemed that the
intent of the parade rules was to explicitly facilitate content-based enforcement.
Assemble For Rights NYC
Shortly after the NYPD proposed new parade regulations, a coalition of activist
groups formed to protect First Amendment activities in New York. Assemble for
Rights NYC has as its mission making New York City a model of both security and
free expression.
Partially due to pressure from Assemble for Rights, the Police Department withdrew
its initial proposal. Months later the Police Department promulgated a new parading
rule targeting Critical Mass riders. The new rule outlaws gatherings of 50 or more
bicyclists without a permit. Several bicycling groups sought a preliminary injunction
to bar the City from enforcing the new regulations on large-scale bicycle rides,
which provide that 50 or more bicyclists must obtain parade permits. On April 17,
2006, Judge Lewis A, Kaplan of the Federal District Court denied the groups’
motion for an injunction.
Assemble for Rights asked the New York City Council to take charge in this matter.
The coalition’s website reads, in part:
NYC needs new public gathering rules. The city’s current rules are
not effective in protecting civil liberties nor do they give the NYPD
clear guidelines for policing public events. …[O]nly the New York
City Council, as the representatives of the people, have the authority
to make laws that affect our fundamental freedoms. We call on
the City Council to pass legislation that both safeguards the full
expression of our Constitutional rights and ensures the public safety.
The new parade rules, established by the NYPD rather than the New York City
Council, indicate that there is still much progress to be made in making New
York a model of both security and free expression. Assemble for Rights NYC has
put forward legislation called the NYC First Amendment Act, based largely on
Washington, D.C.’s First Amendment and Police Standards Act of 2005.

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74

Conclusion
The treatment of Critical Mass bicycle riders by police encompasses the host of
illegal tactics that all levels of law enforcement have been using on protesters around
the country, in the streets, at the city and state level, and at the federal level. Such
practices have a chilling effect on free speech. They include:
● stigmatizing an identifiable group,
● enacting unnecessary and overbroad legislation aimed at curtailing their
activities and mode of expression,
● engaging in excessive and unnecessary violence as well as mass false arrests,
● conducting infiltration and surveillance, and
● diverting important law enforcement and intelligence resources from real
threats.
None of these tactics has a place in a democracy.

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75

A Brief History of the National Lawyers Guild

F

ounded in 1937, the National Lawyers Guild was the nation’s first racially
integrated bar association. In the 1930s, Guild lawyers helped organize
the United Auto Workers, the Congress of Industrial Organizations, and
supported the New Deal in the face of determined American Bar Association
opposition. In the 1940s, Guild lawyers fought against fascists in the Spanish Civil
War and World War II, and helped prosecute Nazis at Nuremburg. Guild lawyers
fought racial discrimination in cases such as Hansberry v. Lee,208 the case that struck
down segregationist Jim Crow laws in Chicago. The Guild was one of the nongovernmental organizations selected by the U.S. government to officially represent
the American people at the founding of the United Nations in 1945. Members helped
draft the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and founded one of the first UNaccredited human rights non-governmental organizations in 1948, the International
Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL).
In the late 1940s and 1950s, Guild members founded the first national plaintiffs
personal injury bar association that became the American Trial Lawyers Association
(ATLA), and pioneered storefront law offices for low-income clients that became the
model for the community-based offices of the Legal Services Corporation. During
the McCarthy era, Guild members represented the Hollywood Ten, the Rosenbergs,
and thousands of victims of the anti-communist hysteria. Unlike all other national
bar associations, the Guild refused to require “loyalty oaths” of its members and was
unjustly labeled “subversive” by the U.S. Justice Department, which later admitted
the charges were baseless, after ten years of federal litigation. This period in the
Guild’s history made the defense of democratic rights and the dangers of political
profiling more than theoretical questions for its members and provided valuable
experience in defending First Amendment freedoms that informs the work of the
organization today.
In the 1960s, the Guild set up offices in the South and organized thousands of
volunteer lawyers and law students to support the civil rights movement, long before
the federal government or other bar associations. Guild members represented the
families of murdered civil rights activists Schwerner, Chaney and Goodman, who
were assassinated by local law enforcement-Ku Klux Klan members. Guild-initiated
lawsuits brought the Justice Department directly into Mississippi and challenged
the seating of the all-white Mississippi delegation at the 1964 Democratic National
Convention. Guild lawyers defended civil rights activists and established new
federal constitutional protections in Supreme Court cases such as: Dombrowski
v. Pfister,209 enjoining thousands of racially-motivated state court criminal
prosecutions; Goldberg v. Kelly,210 establishing the concept of “entitlements” to

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social benefits which require due process protections; and Monell v. Dept. of Social
Services,211 holding municipalities liable for brutal police-employees.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Guild members represented Vietnam War draft
resisters, antiwar activists and the Chicago 7. Guild offices in Asia represented
GIs who opposed the war. Guild members argued U.S. v. U.S. District Court,212
the Supreme Court case that established that President Richard Nixon could
not ignore the Bill of Rights in the name of “national security” and led to the
Watergate hearings and Nixon’s resignation. Guild members defended FBI-targeted
members of the Black Panther Party, the American Indian Movement, and the
Puerto Rican independence movement. Members helped expose illegal F.B.I and
C.I.A. surveillance, infiltration and disruption tactics (called COINTELPRO), that
the U.S. Senate Church Commission hearings detailed in 1975-76 and which led
to enactment of the Freedom of Information Act and other limitations on federal
investigative power. The Guild supported self-determination for Palestine and
opposed apartheid in South Africa at a time when the U.S. Government called
Nelson Mandela a “terrorist,” and began the ongoing fight against the blockade
of Cuba. Members founded other civil and human rights institutions, such as the
Center for Constitutional Rights, the National Conference of Black Lawyers, the
Meiklejohn Civil Liberties Institute, the Peoples College of Law and others.
In the 1980s, the Guild pioneered the “necessity defense” and used international law
to support the anti-nuclear movement and to challenge the use of nuclear weapons.
In a case argued by Guild lawyers, the World Court declared that nuclear weapons
violate international law. The Guild’s National Immigration Project began working
on immigration issues, spurred by the need to represent Central American refugees
and asylum activists. Legal theories for holding foreign human rights violators
accountable in U.S. courts, based on early 19th century federal statutes, were
pioneered by Guild attorneys. The Guild organized “people’s tribunals” to expose
the illegality of U.S. intervention in Central America that became even more widely
known as the Iran-Contra scandal. The Guild prevailed in a lawsuit against the FBI
for illegal political surveillance of legal, activist organizations, including the Guild.
The NLG Sugar Center for Social and Economic Justice was established in Detroit
and the Guild published the first major work on sexual orientation and the law, and
the first legal practice manual on HIV/AIDS.
In the 1990s, Guild members mobilized opposition to the Gulf War, defended
Haitian refugees, opposed the U.S. embargo of Cuba and began to define a new
civil rights agenda that includes the right to health care, employment, education,
and housing. Members authored the first reports that detailed U.S. violations of
human rights standards regarding the death penalty, racism, police brutality, AIDS
discrimination and economic rights. The Guild initiated the National Coalition to
Protect Political Freedom to focus opposition to “secret evidence” deportations

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77

and First Amendment violations after passage of the 1996 Anti-Terrorism Act, and
established the National Police Accountability Project to address police misconduct.
Long before the 1999 World Trade Organization demonstrations in Seattle, the
Guild was analyzing of the impact of globalization on human rights and the
environment and played an active role opposing NAFTA. As the 20th century drew
to a close, the Guild was defending anti-globalization, environmental and labor
rights activists from Seattle, to D.C., to L.A. Guild members were playing active
roles in encouraging cross-border labor organizing and in exposing the abuses in the
maquiladoras on the U.S.-Mexico Border.
Today and Tomorrow
At the turn of the 21st century, globalization of information and economic activity
is a fact of life, but so is the globalization of extremes in wealth and poverty. The
American people are facing inescapable trends that will require vast restructuring
of our entire society, if we are to avoid the social chaos that is already overtaking
life in our major cities, or the militarized imposition of social peace that we see in
other unstable societies and that is embodied in post-9/11 laws and policies. Guild
members have long recognized that neither democracy nor social justice is possible,
internationally or domestically, in the face of vast disparities in individual and
social wealth. In short, it has always seen questions of economic and social class as
inextricably intertwined with most domestic and international justice issues.
The Supreme Court’s decision in Bush v. Gore213 has made clear that the struggle
for democracy in this country is far from over. The intertwining of governmental
power with the influence of corporations, epitomized by the ENRON debacle, are
major challenges in 2007 and beyond. The seizure of increased executive power,
the buildup of military might and the attack on civil liberties after the 9/11 tragedy,
along with the scapegoating of Muslims and the recreation of McCarthy-esque “antiterrorism” measures, demonstrates that the Guild must, once again, play the role for
which history and experience has prepared its members.
Guild members lobbied Congress and worked with the House Judiciary Committee
in a failing effort to repeal the worst aspects of the 2001 USA PATRIOT Act.
Members also filed the first challenges to the detention of prisoners from
Afghanistan and to the use of military tribunals. As well, the Guild is collaborating
on a campaign to restore habeas corpus, which applies to non-citizens in the United
States as well as detainees in Guantanamo Bay. Guild members are defending
activists, representing immigrants facing deportation, and testifying in federal and
state legislatures against civil liberties cutbacks. They are using their experience and
skills to help build the 21st century grassroots movements that will be necessary to
protect civil liberties and to defend democracy now and in the future.

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Police searched a National Lawyers Guild Legal Observer at the 2000 Republican
National Convention in Philadelphia, as another helmuted officer clenched his nightstick. The Legal Observer had not done anything to warrant the search, and was
wearing a lime green Legal Observer hat denoting her affiliation with the National
Lawyers Guild. PHOTO: HEIDI BOGHOSIAN

Government Tactics that Suppress Free Speech

79

Conclusion

T

he National Lawyers Guild’s 2004 report on government violations of First
Amendment rights discussed the relaxing of guidelines governing spying
on domestic activists and said that there was compelling evidence of an
ongoing, national drive to collect intelligence related to protest through local law
enforcement.
Since 2006, Guild members’ suspicions have been confirmed. Revelations surface
regularly of widespread programs to spy on and interrogate protesters about their
political viewpoints. Law enforcement engaged in a multi-state interrogation
program of protesters planning to attend the Democratic and Republican National
Conventions in 2004, illegally gathering information about individuals’ political
viewpoints, and absent any information that such individuals were planning to
engage in unlawful activities of any kind.
Decades ago, government spying, infiltration and disruption tactics of the FBI
and CIA against domestic political groups (Counter Intelligence Program, or
COINTELPRO) led to the establishment of guidelines limiting federal investigative
power. Under the Bush Administration many of those guidelines are being loosened
or abandoned altogether as the government engages in the same surveillance and
infiltration activities through advancing a policy of preemptive “warfare.” And once
again, the executive office, working in close coordination with all levels of federal
and local law enforcement, is engaging in what Justice Powell called “dragnet
techniques” to both intimidate and silence its critics, the very practice that led to the
Fourth Amendment and its protections against overreaching government searches
and seizures.
By characterizing those who speak out as “enemies” or “terrorists,” as the
government is increasingly doing, those charged with upholding the constitution
are defying it in a cowardly fashion. The administration is creating a false
illusion of national security, when in fact its many intelligence databases contain
misinformation as well as names of individuals whose only infraction is that they
have been active in expressing the First Amendment right to criticize government
policies. Such squandering of limited resources and engaging in dangerous
and illegal practices to intimidate many Americans from exercising their First
Amendment rights is both patently illegal, and patently undemocratic.
As formidable as the government’s attack on civil liberties has been, the National
Lawyers Guild has seen some positive responses to these tactics. Many animal
rights and environmental activists are still abiding by their convictions, either
refusing to testify before grand juries or entering in to plea agreements that contain

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provisions stipulating that they will not identify or testify against others. Groups
and individuals in New York are challenging newly-enacted ordinances created
to punish groups of bicycle riders because of the monthly Critical Mass rides.
Independent videographers and journalists, such as Josh Wolf, are refusing to turn
over their videotapes when subpoenaed by police and are continuing to document
mass events even in the face of aggressive police tactics including confiscating
photographic equipment in public places and at public assemblies. And groups like
the National Lawyers Guild are filing suit when police departments violate their
consent decrees or court agreements not to engage in excessive use of force against
peaceful protesters, such as when the Los Angeles Police Department unleashed
a violent attack at the May 1, 2007 immigration rally. Guild members are scoring
legal victories in the courtroom as challenges to crackdowns escalate on First
Amendment-protected activities.
The Guild shares information with its member practitioners and documents
demonstrations and related police-misconduct litigation in order to contextualize
new government trends and police tactics. Individuals and grassroots organizations
rely on the National Lawyers Guild to monitor large, national assemblies as well as
smaller, local gatherings and to help ensure that infringements of First Amendment
liberties do not go unchallenged. In large part this trust is the result of the Guild’s
history of working for nearly 70 years to challenge governmental infringement of
the rights of individuals. Its unique Legal Observer program sends trained observers
to monitor law enforcement at rallies and marches, in an effort to create a safe
atmosphere for people to express their political views as fully as possible without
unconstitutional disruption or interference by police.
Building on The Assault on Free Speech, Public Assembly, and Dissent, issued in
2004, this report has attempted to demonstrate the ubiquity of efforts to stifle free
speech, and the similarity of tactics employed by state and local governments.
Vigorous attacks on free speech have led to lawsuits by the National Lawyers Guild
and others in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Oakland, Chicago, Los Angeles,
Miami, New York, and Portland. Defendants in these cases have targeted all manner
of progressive political activists, from mass demonstrators to small, spontaneous
gatherings. But the same tactics appear again and again: pretextual searches,
restrictive ordinances, refusal to grant permits, and mass arrest and violence against
demonstrators.
The uniformity of approach and the zealous and relentless application of such
tactics suggest a much more serious and organized threat to civil liberties than many
may realize. This report has sought to create a fuller picture of the threat, and the
ways that actions at all levels of government are collectively undermining First
Amendment rights. The National Lawyers Guild will work to address these perils,
gathering more information, conducting outreach to activist communities, and
litigating as necessary to defend free speech.

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81

PHOTO: MICHEL MARTINEZ

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Notes
UN Commission on Human Rights, Promotion and Protection of Human Rights: Human Rights
Defenders, submitted by Hina Jilani, Special Representative of the Secretary General on the
status of human rights defenders, E/CN.4/2004/94/Add.3, 23 March 2004, p. 151, par. 476, http://
www.unhchr.ch/pdf/chr60/94add3AV.pdf.
2
In the 1970s, restrictions were imposed on FBI spying on religious and political organizations
after a U.S. Senate Select Committee disclosed a longstanding and wide-ranging surveillance
and infiltration program (Counter Intelligence Program, or COINTELPRO), of antiwar activists,
the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the Black Panther Party, and thousands of other
organizations and individuals.
3
David E. Kaplan, “Spies Among Us,” U.S. News & World Report, May 8, 2006, 41. Also
available online at http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/060508/8homeland.htm.
4
Ibid.
5
Ibid.
6
Ibid.
7
Fed. Reg., 14140.200568.
8
U.S. Dept. of Justice, Office of the Inspector General, Review of the Terrorist Screening Center,
redacted for public release, Audit Report 05-27, June 2005, 6. Also available online at http://
www.usdoj.gov/oig/reports/FBI/a0527/final.pdf.
9
NCIC is a nationwide information system the FBI maintains which provides the criminal justice
community with immediate access to information on various law enforcement data, such as
criminal history records and missing persons. The FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services
Division (CJIS) manages the NCIC database.
10
U.S. Dept. of Justice, Office of the Inspector General, Review of the Terrorist Screening Center,
redacted for public release, Audit Report 05-27, June 2005, 6. Also available online at http://
www.usdoj.gov/oig/reports/FBI/a0527/final.pdf.
11
Ibid., 6.
12
FBI, Law Enforcement Sensitive: Violent Gang and Terrorist Organization File (VGTOF),
available at: http://www.aclu-co.org/spyfiles/Documents/20382.pdf (last checked March 3, 2006).
13
Norman A Pattis, “Why Government ‘Watch Lists’ Should Not Be Tolerated,” Hartford
Courant, January 14, 2006.
14
407 U.S. 297 (1972).
15
Ibid., 327.
16
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 prescribes procedures for requesting judicial
authorization for electronic surveillance and the physical search of persons engaged in espionage
or international terrorism against the United States on behalf of a foreign power.
17
Eric Lichtblau and Mark Mazzetti, “Military Expands Intelligence Role in U.S.,” New York
Times, January 14, 2007.
18
Brian Martin, “Protest in a Liberal Democracy,” Philosophy and Social Action, Vol. 20, nos.
1-2 (January-June 1994): 13-24.
19
Ibid.
20
Ibid.
21
Ibid.
22
Ibid.
23
Donald K. Stern et al., Report of the Commission Investigating The Death of Victoria
Snelgrove, May 25, 2005, 26-27, http://www.ci.boston.ma.us/police/pdfs/report.pdf.
24
National Advisory Committee on Criminal Justice Standards and Goals, Disorders and
Terrorism: Report of the Task Force on Disorders and Terrorism, Washington 1976, 57.
1

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83

UN Commission on Human Rights (see n. 1); The Free Trade Area of the Americas Inquiry
Report, (see n. 44); Report of the Commission Investigating The Death of Victoria Snelgrove (see
n. 23).
26
Stern et al., Victoria Snelgrove.
27
Richard Winton and Matt Lait, “LAPD Cut Back Forces at Park Rally,” Los Angeles Times,
May 4, 2007.
28
Anna Gorman and Stuart Silverstein, “Police Acton on Journalists at Melee is Assailed,” Los
Angeles Times, May 3, 2007.
29
Ed Tant, Letter to the Editor, New York Times, April 30, 2007.
25

Reporters Without Borders, Freedom of the Press Worldwide in 2007: 2007 Annual Report,
2007, 1, http://www February 2007, available at 222.rsf.org/IMG/pdf/rapport_en_bd-4.pdf.

30

Ibid., 3-4.
Ibid., 64.
33
Daniel J. Myers, “Media, Communication Technology, and Protest Waves” (paper presented
at the Social Movement Analysis conference, Loch Lomond, Scotland, June 22–25, 2000), 16,
http://www.nd.edu/~dmyers/lomond/myers.pdf.
34
Ibid.
35
Michael Barker, “Conform or Reform? Social Movements and the Mass Media,” ZNet,
February 7, 2007, http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=12072.
36
Ibid., citing J. K. research of Hertog and D.M. McLeod “Anarchists wreak havoc in downtown
Minneapolis: A multi-level study of media coverage of radical protest,” Journalism and Mass
Communication Monographs 151 (1995).
37
Ibid., citing D.M. McLeod, “Communicating Deviance: the Effects of Television-News
Coverage of Social Protest,” Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media 39 (1995): 4–19;
D.M.; McLeod and B.H. Detenber, “Framing Effects of Television News Coverage of Social
Protest,” Journal of Communication 49 (1999): 3–23; and P.J.; Shoemaker, “The Perceived
Legitimacy of Deviant Political Groups: Two Experiments on Media Effects,” Communication
Research 9 (1982): 249–286.
38
Ibid., citing A. Opel, “Punishment before Prosecution: Pepper Spray as Postmodern
Repression,” in Representing Resistance: Media, Civil Disobedience, and the Global Justice
Movement, ed. A. Opel and D. Pompper (Westport, CT: Praeger, 2003), 58.
39
Ibid., citing FAIR, “Action Alert: Media Missing New Evidence about Genoa Violence,”
January 10, 2003.
40
Craig Horowitz, “How To Care for an Angry Mob,” New York, May 17, 2004. Also available
online at http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/rnc/n_10370/. Ibid.
41
Logan Hill, “You Ready To Rock? Cries the Not-in-Charge Person. Twinkle, Twinkle, the
Crowd Roars,” New York, May 17, 2004. Also available online at http://nymag.com/nymetro/
news/rnc/n_10376/.
42
Patrice O’Shaughnessy, “Fury at Anarchist Convention,” New York Daily News, July 12, 2004.
43
Ibid.
44
Ibid.
45
Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, email to NLG, July 13, 2004.
46
Jorge E. Reynardus et al., The Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) Inquiry Report,
September 20, 2004, http://www.miamidade.gov/irp/Library/FTAA_Report_09_20_04.pdf.
47
Ibid.
48
Yvonne Kimmons and Bryan Williams, “How Many Americans Said No to War? A detailed
study of 287 demonstrations for peace in the United States on February 15, 2003,” March 14,
2003, http://available at www.liberaloasis.com/peacereport.htm.
49
Ibid.
50
Ibid.
31
32

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Lauren Regan, speaking at “What Lawyers Need to Know About the Green Scare,” a
symposium sponsored by the National Lawyers Guild (Cardozo Law School, New York, NY,
June 26, 2006).
52
For a discussion of the underlying rationale for punishing conspiracy more harshly, as well as
critiques of the theory, see Neal Kumar Katyal, “Conspiracy Theory,” Yale Law Journal, Vol. 112
(April 2003): 1307.
53
U.S. Sentencing Commission, Guidelines Manual, §3A1.4 (a) (Nov. 2006). Also available
online at http://www.ussc.gov/2006guid/gl2006.pdf.).
54
In 2002, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld referred to Guantánamo prisoners as “the worst of the
worst.” William Fisher, “The Worst of the Worst,” Truthout, 30 April 2006, http://www.truthout.
org/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi/59/19448. “As recently as June 2005, Rumsfeld said, despite
massive and incontrovertible evidence to the contrary, ‘If you think of the people down there,
these are people, all of whom were captured on a battlefield. They’re terrorists, trainers, bomb
makers, recruiters, financiers, [Osama bin Laden’s] bodyguards, would-be suicide bombers,
probably the 20th 9/11 hijacker.’” Ibid.
55
USA PATRIOT Act, §802, amending US Code, vol. 18, §2332 (5) (2001).
56
Ibid.
57
Nancy Chang, Silencing Political Dissent: How Post-September 11 Anti-Terrorism Measures
Threaten Our Civil Liberties (New York: Seven Stories Press, 2002), 44.
58
Department of Homeland Security, “Preventing Attacks by Animal Rights Extremists and EcoTerrorists: Fundamentals of Corporate Security,” April 13, 2006.
59
UN Security Council, 5053rd meeting, S/RES/1566, on 8 October 2004.
60
Friends of Jim Inhofe Committee, “Inhofe Investigates Eco-Terrorism,” May 18, 2005, http://
jiminhofe.com/cgi-data/news_doc/files/106.shtml.
61
Center for Media & Democracy, “Eco-Terrorism,” http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.
php?title=Eco-terrorism
62
Center for Media & Democracy, “Ron Arnold,” http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.
php?title=Ron_Arnold.
63
Sherm Sitrin, e-mail to Heidi Boghosian, March 13, 2007.
64
John E. Lewis, Deputy Assistant Director, FBI Counterterrorism Division, testifying before
Federal Bureau of Investigation before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works,
18 May 2005, http://epw.senate.gov/hearing_statements.cfm?id=237817.
65
Kera Abraham, “Is Eco-Sabotage Terrorism?,” Eugene Weekly, December 21, 2006, http://
www.eugeneweekly.com/2006/12/21/webextra1.html.
66
Ibid.
67
Ibid.
68
For more detail on the proceedings, provided by journalist Will Potter, see http://www.
GreenIsTheNewRed.com.
69
See the ALEC website at http://www.alec.org/. ALEC has the support of over 300 large
corporations, including those in the tobacco, petroleum, pharmaceutical and transportation areas.
It forges working relationships with right-wing entities such as the National Rifle Association, the
Family Research Council and the Koch, Scaife, Bradley, and Heritage Foundations in an attempt
to further its agenda and to influence legislation so as to benefit its big business members and
contributors.
70
Pub.L.109-374, 120 Stat. 2652 (codified as amended at 18 U.S.C. § 43 (2006)).
71
Pub.L. 102-346, 1992.
72
18 U.S.C. § 43.
73
Joshua Frank, “The Role of Radical Animal Activists,” Animal Liberation Philosophy and
Policy Journal 2, no. 1 (2004): 10.
74
505 U.S. 377, 112 S. Ct. 2538 (1992).
75
ACLU, “Court Declares Utah’s ‘Commercial Terrorism Statute Unconstitutional,” press
51

Government Tactics that Suppress Free Speech

85

release, October 10, 2001.
76
Jacob Luecke, “Animal Protection Groups Blast Farm Photograph Bill,” St. Louis PostDispatch, March 29, 2005.
77
Lynne Williams, e-mail to NLG, June 12, 2006.
78
See http://www.mainecommonwealth.com/node/141.
79
Animal Enterprise Protection Terrorism Act of 1992, 18 U.S.C. § 43.
80
Huntingdon Life Sciences was founded in the United Kingdom in 1952, but relocated its
financial headquarters to the United States in 2002 due to the persistence of British protesters.
81
Andrew F. Erba, “A Discussion of the Issues in United States v. Stop Huntingdon Animal
Cruelty USA,” 2006 (on. file with National Lawyers Guild, National Office).
82
Andrew F. Erba, “Discussion.”
83
Ibid.
84
See Planned Parenthood v. American Coalition of Life Activists, 23 F. Supp. 2d 1182, (D. Or.
1998).
85
“What Lawyers Need to Know About the Green Scare,” a symposium sponsored by the
National Lawyers Guild (Cardozo Law School, New York, NY, June 26, 2006); Andrew Erba,
e-mail to the NLG, March 9, 2006.
86
Department of Justice, “Eleven Defendants Indicted on Domestic Terrorism Charges,” press
release, January 20, 2006.
87
18 U.S.C. §SC 844 (i).
88
18 U.S.C. §SC 9244 (c )) (1)) (A)) (i),) and (B)) (ii), and (C)) (ii.)
89
See http://www.supportdaniel.org.
90
Jenny Synan, e-mail to Heidi Boghosian, May 20, 2007.
91
Cox v. Louisiana, 379 U.S. 536 (1965) (establishing the “time, place, and manner” doctrine.)
92
Ward v. Rock Against Racism, 491 U.S. 781 (1989); Clark v. Community for Creative NonViolence, 468 U.S. 288 (1984).
93
Sammartano v. First Judicial District, 303 F.3d 959, 963 (9th Cir. 2002).
94
Editorial, “The Perfect Lawn, Mowed and Muted,” New York Times, March 12, 2007.
95
Carol Sobel, e-mail to NLG, April 15, 2003.
96
Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, e-mail to NLG, March 1, 2007.
97
Service Employees International Union v. City of Los Angeles, 114 F. Supp. 2d 966 (C.D. Cal.
2000).
98
See New York v. Burger, 482 U.S. 691 (1987); Scott v. United States, 436 U.S. 128 (1978).
99
Allyson Collins, Washington Associate Director, Human Rights Watch to police chief Charles
H. Ramsey, April 25, 2000, http://www.hrw.org/press/2000/04/ramsey425.htm.
100
ACLU, “ACLU Warns Los Angeles Police Department: Stop Harassing Protestors,” press
release, August 7, 2000, http://www.aclu.org/FreeSpeech/FreeSpeech.cfm?ID=8061&c=86
(citing Alexander v. City and County of San Francisco, 29 F.3d 1355, 1361 (9th Cir. 1994)).
101
For a justification of the legal prohibition against conspiracy, see Katyal, “Conspiracy Theory,”
(see n. 52).
102
Harrison v. United States, 713 F.2d 259, 263 (2d Cir. 1925).
103
Daniel Meyers, speaking at “What Lawyers Need to Know About the Green Scare,” a
symposium sponsored by the National Lawyers Guild (Cardozo Law School, New York, NY,
June 26, 2006).
104
Marcus Wohlsen, “Eight Arrested in 1971 San Francisco Cop Killing Tied to Blank Panthers,”
San Diego Union Tribune, January 24, 2007.
105
Judge Douglas P. Woodlock. See Coalition to Protest Democratic Nat’l Convention v. City
of Boston, 327 F.Supp.2d 61, 74 (D. Mass 2004), aff’d sub nom. Bl(a)ck Tea Society v. City
of Boston, 378 F.3d 8 (1st Cir. 2004) (“The overall impression created by the DZ is that of an
internment camp.”).
106
114 F. Supp. 2d 966 (C.D. Cal. 2000).

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Ann Fagan Ginger, ed., Challenging U.S. Human Rights Violations Since 9/11 (Amherst, NY:
Prometheus Books, 2005), 153.
108
Reynardus, FTAA Inquiry Report, 5-6 (see n. 46.)
109
Ibid.
110
Partnership for Civil Justice Legal Defense and Education Fund, “Mass Arrests Used for
Intelligence Gathering by FBI” 2003, http://www.civil-rights.net/readmore/s27filed.htm (August
2, 2004).
111
See http://www.justiceonline.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=5183&news_iv_
ctrl=1002.
112
Christopher Getzan, “Infamous ‘Miami Model’ of Protest Clampdown, Coming to a
Town Near You,” The New Standard, June 17, 2004, http://newstandardnews.net/content/
?action=show_item&itemid=488&printmode=true.
113
Miles Swanson, telephone conversation with Heidi Boghosian, NLG, September 2003; Andrea
Costello, e-mail to NLG, December 1, 2003.
114
Laura Raymond, “NLG Update from Miami—New Tactic of ‘Snatch Squads’,” e-mail to
Heidi Boghosian, November 21, 2003.
115
Alex S. Vitale, “Analysis of the NYPD’s Use of Demonstration Pens,” NYC Criminal Justice
Activism, March 2004, http://home.earthlink.net/~alvgc/justice/id33.html.
116
Ann Fagan Ginger, ed., 148 (see n. 107).
117
New York City Policing Roundtable Letter to Mayor Michael Bloomberg and police
commissioner Ray Kelly, March 12, 2004. The New York City Policing Roundtable is a
coalition of civil rights litigators, public interest attorneys, community organizers, researchers,
and academics seeking to reduce police misconduct in New York City by fostering research,
litigation, community organizing and public education.
118
Steckley Lee, e-mail to Heidi Boghosian, June 29, 2004.
119
Ibid.
120
Ibid.
121
Denver Copwatch, “Less Lethal Weapons,” 2003.
122
UN Commission on Human Rights, Promotion and Protection, p. 151, par. 476 (see note 1).
123
Jorge E. Reynardus et al., The Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) Inquiry Report,
September 20, 2004, http://www.miamidade.gov/irp/Library/FTAA_Report_09_20_04.pdf.).
124
Complaint, Multi-Ethnic Immigration Workers Organizing Network, et al. v. City of Los
Angeles et al., May 9, 2007.
125
Ibid.
126
NLG press release, “Class Action Filed For May Day Action, May 10, 2007. Available at
http://www.nlg.org.
127
Ibid.
128
Ibid.
129
UN Commission on Human Rights, Promotion and Protection, p.151, par. 476 (see note 1).
130
Steven Best and Anthony J. Nocella, II, “Clearcutting Green Activists: The FBI Escalates the
War on Dissent,” www.impactpress.com/articles/spring06/bestspring06.html.
131
See JTTF Enhancement Act of 2003, H.R. 3439, 108th Cong. Sec 2 (2003): “Joint Terrorism
Task Forces: (1) JTTFS Required—The Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation shall
carry out a program under which the Director maintains, in such regions and localities of the
United States as the Director considers appropriate, task forces of law enforcement agents to
combat international terrorism (known as joint terrorism task forces.).”
132
Ibid.
133
Subpoenaed activist [name withheld], e-mail to Heidi Boghosian, NLG, January 20, 2007.
134
Ibid.
135
Ibid.
136
Ibid.
107

Government Tactics that Suppress Free Speech

87

U.S. Dept. of Justice Special Report, Office of the Inspector General, A Review of the FBI’s
Investigative Activities Concerning Potential Protesters at the 2004 Democratic and Republican
National Political Conventions, April 2006. Also available online at http://www.usdoj.gov/oig/
special/s0604/index.htm.
138
Jim Dwyer, “City Police Spied Broadly Before G.O.P. Convention, New York Times, March
25, 2007.
139
Ibid.
140
Ibid.
141
Ibid.
142
David Cole, “Spying on the Guild,” The Nation, March 1, 2004.
143
Marjorie Cohn, “Government Withdrawal of Drake Protest Subpoenas Targeting National
Lawyers Guild is Victory for Free Speech,” Jurist, February 17, 2004.
144
The FBI tried for years to pin the “subversive” label on the National Lawyers Guild. The
Guild sued the FBI, and in 1989, when settling the lawsuit, the Bureau acknowledged that it had
conducted surveillance of the Guild from 1940 to 1951.
145
The Grand Jury Project, Inc. of the National Lawyers Guild, Representation of Witnesses
Before Federal Grand Juries, (New York, Clark, Boardman, Callaghan, 1996).
146
Ibid. vii-viii.
147
Andrew Dunlop, interview by Amy Goodman, Democracy Now!, April 14, 2005. Also
available online at http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/04/14/1349256.
148
For a series of news articles on this, see I-Witness Video, http://iwitnessvideo.info.
149
David Chanen, “Judge Reviews Claim of Evidence Tampering,” Star Tribune, August 16,
2003.
150
The Legal Observer program was established in 1968 in New York City in response to protests
at Columbia University and citywide antiwar and civil rights demonstrations. That same year,
Guild students organized for the defense of people swept up in mass arrests at the Democratic
Convention in Chicago. Legal Observers are individuals who monitor law enforcement activities
at rallies and marches to create a safe atmosphere for people to express their political views as
fully as possible, without unconstitutional disruption or interference by police.
151
Eileen Clancy, interview by Greer Feick (NLG intern), July 30, 2006, on file with interviewer.
152
Gideon Oliver, e-mail to Heidi Boghosian, May 18, 2007.
153
Eileen Clancy, interview by Amy Goodman, Democracy Now! April 14, 2005. Also available
online at http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/04/14/1349256.
154
Alexander Dunlop, interview by Amy Goodman, Democracy Now!, April 14, 2005. Also
available online at http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/04/14/1349256.
155
Eileen Clancy, interview with Greer Feick, July 30, 2006.
156
Josh Banno and Sabrina Schroff, Democracy Now!, April 19, 2005, Also available online at
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/04/19/1348231. See also Sabrina Tavernise,
“Student’s Arrest at G.O.P. Convention Puts His Life in Limbo,” New York Times, April 15,
2005.
157
Interview with Josh Banno and Sabrina Shroff, Democracy Now!, April 19, 2005.
158
Michael Conroy, interview by Amy Goodman, Democracy Now!, April 14, 2005.
159
John Conyers, Jr., Jerrold Nadler, Robert C. Scott, Melvin Watt, Sheila Jackson Lee, and Linda
Sanchez to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, April 25, 2005.
160
Ibid.
161
Al Baker, “Two Top Officers Are Criticized for ’04 Arrests,” New York Times, May 10, 2006.
162
Ibid.
163
The lawsuit, International Action Center, et al. v. United States, was filed in U.S. District
Court for the District of Columbia.
137

Carol Leonnig, “Lawsuit Alleging Abuse During 2001 Inauguration Is Settled,” Washington
Post, November 22, 2006.
164

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Ibid.
See Complaint, Multi-Ethnic Immigration Workers Organizing Network, et al. v. City of Los
Angeles et al., May 9, 2007.
167
NLG, “In Landmark Agreement, Oakland Prohibits Less Lethal Weapons for Crowd,” press
release, November 10, 2004.
168
American Friends Service Committee v. City and County of Denver, 02-N-0740, United States
District Court, District of Colorado (2002).
169
Roy L. Bourgeois, et al. v. Columbus, Georgia, No. 03-1688 (11th Cir. 2004).
170
Handschu v. Special Services Div., 787 F.2d 828, (2d Cir. 1986).
171
605 F. Supp. 1384 (S.D.N.Y.1985).
172
Handschu, 787 F.2d.
173
Ibid., §1V.C.
174
Ibid., §VII.D.
175
273 F. Supp. 2d 327 (S.D.N.Y. 2003).
176
288 F. Supp. 2d 411 (S.D.N.Y. 2003).
177
2006 WL 1716969 (S.D.N.Y. 2006).
178
Handschu v. Special Services Div., 2007 WL 635056, No. 71 Civ. 2203 (S.D.N.Y. 2007).
179
Jim Dwyer, “City Police Spied Broadly Before G.O.P. Convention, New York Times, March
25, 2007.
180
Alliance to End Repression v. City of Chicago, 1992 WL 296388 (N.D. Ill. 1992).
181
Frank Main, “Police Infiltration of Protest Groups Upsets Rights Activists,” Chicago SunTimes, February 19, 2004.
182
Ibid.
183
Paul Egan, “Cops Say Federal Oversight Too Strict,” The Detroit News, May 17, 2007.
184
Ibid.
185
Desiree Hellegers, “Portland Versus the FBI,” Counterpunch, June 24, 2005.
186
The Critical Mass website is http://critical-mass.org.
187
Dara Colwell, “Riding to the Rescue: Sympathetic European cycling activists jump into
critical mess to say, ‘Free NYC Cyclists,’” Village Voice, August 29, 2005. Also available online
at http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0535,colwell,67297,5.html. See also Jonathan Walk, “264
Arrested in NYC Bicycle Protest,” CNN.com, August 28, 2004.
188
Editorial, “Cyclists, the Police and the Rest of Us,” New York Times, December 29, 2006.
189
NLG, “Court Clears National Lawyers Guild Legal Observer After Cop Admits He Was
Ordered to Make False Written Statements,” press release, September 12, 2006.
165
166

190

Lou Young, “‘Critical Mass’ Bike Ride Gets Dangerous,’” WCBSTV.com, Mar 7, 2006.

191

Rocco Parascandola, “Did He Do It? Let’s Go to the Video,” Newsday, February 6, 2007.
Rocco Parascandola, “Key NYPD Chief Ready to Retire,” Newsday, January 24, 2007.

192

Kareem Fahim and Jim Dwyer, “At Least 18 Arrests Made in Tense Night of a Monthly
Cycling Protest, New York Times, April 30, 2005.
193

Rocco Parascandola, “City settles excess-force suit,” Newsday, April 17, 2007.
Ibid.
196
Lederman v. United States, 291 F.3d 36 (D.C. Cir. 2002).
197
Editorial, Washington Post, June 5, 2002.
198
Jim Dwyer, “Police Infiltrate Protests, Videotapes Show,” New York Times, December 22,
2005.
199
Freewheels press release, December 23, 2005, available at http://nyc.indymedia.org/
en/2005/12/62432/html.
200
Michael Bluejay’s Critical-Mass.info, http://critical-mass.info/police.html.
201
Nichali Ciaccio, “Critical Mass Crackdown: A Personal Account,” Indymedia, April 5, 2006.
194
195

Government Tactics that Suppress Free Speech

89

Katherine Crowell, “Bicyclists Tie Up Rush Hour, The Denver Post, April 30, 2006.
Michael Bluejay’s Critical-Mass.info, http://critical-mass.info/police.html.
204
Larry Hildes, e-mail to NLG, March 9, 2006.
205
Carol Sobel, e-mail to NLG, March 9, 2006.
206
812 N.Y.S.2d 829 (N.Y.City Crim.Ct. 2006).
207
Ibid.
208
Ibid.
209
Transportation Alternatives, “Action Alert: Stop the NYPD’s Bid To Require Everyday
Walkers and Bikers To Obtain Onerous ‘Parade Permits’,” July 25, 2006, http://www.transalt.
org/e-bulletin/2006/July/20060725paradeactionalert.html.
210
Editorial, “Cyclists, the Police and the Rest of Us,” New York Times, December 29, 2006.
211
322 U.S. 32 (1940).
212
380 U.S. 479 (1965).
213
397 U.S. 254 (1970).
214
436 U.S. 658 (1978).
215
407 U.S. 297 (1972).
216
531 U.S. 98 (2000).
202
203

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91