by Smitty
Prof. Jacobson at Legal Insurrection:
HR 347 was recently signed into law by President Obama. This statute had wide support amongst both parties of Congress. In essence, it criminalizes disruptive behavior upon government grounds, at specially designated national events (Super Bowl, nominating conventions, etc.) and anywhere that Secret Service is protecting “any” person. Obviously, the goal of this law is to enhance the ability of the Secret Service to protect those persons it is charged to do so; but in extending this power, this law eviscerates the citizens’ rights to assemble and petition under the First Amendment.
The major flaw in this law is it vests too much discretion with the executive branch – Secret Service – in cordoning off public venues in order to carry out their protective services function. Ignore their dictates and become a criminal. This expanded authority will eventually run afoul of the First Amendment; the question remains if the First Amendment will be protected by the courts.
I submit that the issue here is that the federal government in general, and the Presidency in particular, has become too powerful. Separation of powers, inexorably and unexpectedly collapses upward to DC and inward to the Executive.
I’m sure that our GOP candidates will identify the need to reverse this decline in liberty, and equal protection under the law, and set about doing specific things to unwind the ills of the last century. Because it is as though we are engaged in a decades-long fight to the death to preserve the founding ideals of the country.
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