National Writers Union, Chicago, Defends First Amendment

NATIONAL WRITERS UNION
CHICAGO CHAPTER

CONTACT: Kim Scipes, Chapter Chair
CELL: 773/615-5019

May 9, 2012

NATIONAL WRITERS UNION DEFENDS FIRST AMENDMENT:

NO RESTRICTIONS ON PEACEFUL PUBLIC COMMUNICATION, ASSEMBLY AND DISSENT

The Chicago Chapter of the National Writers Union, Local 1981 of the United Auto Workers, AFL-CIO, today issued a statement, demanding no restrictions on peaceful public communication, assembly and dissent. (See attached.)

"We are appalled at the efforts by Mayor Rahm Emanuel and his Administration, backed by the Chicago City Council, to limit the ability of people to speak truth to power, and to be able to indicate the depth and intensity of their disgust at the on-going wars initiated around the world by NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) and the U.S. Government, under control by both the Democrats and Republicans, who will soon be meeting in Chicago. Support for these wars is at its lowest it has ever been. Yet the Mayor's policies are intended to prevent our people from visibly demonstrating their opposition to this on-going violence overseas, and the accompanying militarization--with accompanying attacks on the First Amendment and our civil liberties--of our society at home. We strongly demand that this misguided policy be repudiated, and that recognition of our First Amendment rights be made the priority of authorities here at home," said Kim Scipes, Chair Chair of the Chicago Chapter of the National Writers Union.

We stand in solidarity with the National Nurses United and their struggle to protest peacefully on May 18.

Chicago Chapter -- May 9, 2012

NATIONAL WRITERS UNION DEFENDS FIRST AMENDMENT--
DEMANDS PROTEST BE PROTECTED IN CHICAGO

In 1968, the Democratic Party came to the City to nominate a president. What happened then became part of Chicago’s history: a massive public uprising of protest against an unjust war and a corrupt political system that created a massive local reaction within the City’s police department. Violence and chaos resulted, as the police viciously attacked the peaceful protesters.

That 1968 police riot was neither the first nor the last display of law enforcement violence against those who speak out against the status quo in the United States: from the 1874 police attack on unemployed workers in Tompkins Square to the police assaults on Occupy Wall Street protesters that galvanized the nation last Fall, government officials have routinely deployed the police to suppress our fundamental right to speak truth to power.

The problem—the assault on free speech—is not only here in the United States, but is global. From Egypt to Greece, to Spain, protesters who lack any meaningful way of being heard by their ‘leaders’ and are essentially locked out of democratic dialogue have taken to the streets, only to be met by a police force prepared to attack and silence anyone who challenges the status quo.

The attack on the right to dissent in the US is a core First Amendment issue. The First Amendment guarantees the people’s right to speak freely and assemble unmolested by the instruments of government power, to demand redress for wrongs committed, and to insist on an end to the authorities’ abuse of power in the service of a privileged elite.

NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, is coming to Chicago this May. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel pulled a considerable amount of political clout to land the meetings of both the Group of Eight (G-8) most economically powerful countries and NATO, but the G-8 meetings have been relocated to Camp David in response to the opposition to these international governmental and business elites. Yet NATO, the military powers that serve these international governmental and business elites, is still scheduled to meet in Chicago. The Mayor has claimed that these meetings will bring visibility and tourism to Chicago businesses. But the protestors, the marchers, the occupiers, the 99-percenters will be here too to speak out against NATO’s violence and the corporate interests the G-8 leaders serve.

Mayor Emanuel is taking no chances: by his measure, the City—at least the part of the City reserved for those military officials—must be protected. So the Mayor and the City Council have given the Chicago Police extraordinary powers at the expense of our First Amendment rights. Police will be there with their riot gear and their face protectors, along with their horses. They are being trained for the worst. Police officials have already been ratcheting up the rhetoric, and spending the first of millions of dollars—our dollars—on riot gear and “crowd control” tools.

The Chicago Chapter of the National Writers Union, with the full support of our National Executive Committee, condemns the Emanuel Administration’s assault on our core Constitutionally-protected rights of assembly and free speech. We demand that there be no restrictions on peaceful public communication, assembly and dissent. We demand protections for all of our free speech rights, in all forms, including electronic communication by phone, computer and social media tools. We declare our support for Chicago Alderman Richard Munoz’ proposed ordinance to protect these means of communication. We demand that the City Council rescind recently-passed legislation that dangerously restricts protest and clouds oversight of public policy, adds even more outside police officers to monitor the event, and threatens the public purse that Mr. Emanuel seeks to raid to bankroll our repression.

It is the City’s fundamental civic obligation to ensure that protesters’ First Amendment rights be respected and protected. We join in declaring our support for all people seeking to peaceably assemble and protest, not just for this May’s NATO meeting, but in the run-up to those meetings and in the months and years following.

Our Constitutional rights are vastly more essential—more critical—than any efforts to secure the comfort and the privilege for the elites gathering for the NATO meetings. Our rights are far more essential than Mayor Emanuel’s grandiose vision of Chicago hosting those meetings. We will exercise these rights, and we stand in solidarity with all who come to peacefully protest in Chicago this May.

If the Mayor insists on going ahead, then know the police—suited up in their robo-cop garb—are anticipating a level of violence that could, but need not, happen. We demand it must not happen: City officials must actively work to ensure everyone’s First Amendment rights be respected and protected.

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