Rule 2: Freedom of Assembly

Here is the Freedom of Assembly section from the proposed constitution. There are 179 similar sections for other topics.

1/ The freedom to assemble is the second citadel right, ahead of all other rights except the right to free speech.

2/ The right of the people to assemble, protest, muster and re-muster shall not be denied or substantially re-directed by government. The Senate shall be required to obey a 66% over-majority of voters mustered under a new constitution.

3/ Government shall not prevent or hinder the people from assembling in a more-or-less peaceful way to hear speakers, discuss issues, organize, protest, or muster up into a new broad democracy.

4/ Large assemblies of the people shall be held in parks, squares and minor streets, and not in places intended to obstruct the functioning of society, such as airports, transit hubs, arterial roads, trials, hearings, or market centers. Protesters that intentionally obstruct the functioning of society may be jailed and fined. If an assembly overflows from an out- of-the-way location and obstructs the functioning of the community, the next assembly of that group must be held in another location where this will not occur. Except for reasons of public safety and obstruction of the functioning of society, and the moving-away of counter protests, government shall have no say over where the people protest.

5/ The right to assemble being so fundamental and vitally important to the cause of freedom, government shall never disband assemblies of the people unless on that very day a significant percentage of the assembly turns to bloodshed, or arson, or the threat of this.

6/ Peaceful protesters shall consider it their obligation to freedom to oust the violent from their protests by finger-pointing and opening to allow law enforcement in to arrest the people so pointed out. Peaceful protestors shall also consider it their duty to freedom to record all violent acts, and to stand witness against the perpetrators in court.

7/ Everyone shall keep in mind how the opponents of protesters do sometimes send people to join and infiltrate protest and cause violence in the protest’s name, frequently as an excuse for disbanding or besmirching the protest. When people who are, or recently were, strongly affiliated with the opposite side infiltrate a protest and cause violence in the name of the protest, this shall be considered democide.

8/ Security forces at demonstrations exist primarily to protect the people from injury to life and limb. Non-fire damage to property really doesn’t really matter in comparison.

9/ Police may wear helmets and transparent face shields during protests, however, no police or protesters shall mask their faces during protests or wear a uniform that makes one protester hard to distinguish from another. All police at all protests must wear their number front and back in 4-cm characters.

10/ During protests, it shall be a principal obligation of police to detain those ousted by the mass of protestors for acting violently, or threatening violence.

11/ It shall be recognized by all, that maintaining order during protests is the most critically important role of police officers in a democracy, for this is where their actions also have a political dimension.

12/ Those violating the rights of a peaceful political protest, especially those injuring or intimidating peaceful protestors may be charged with democide, even if lone individuals, even if under order by a superior officer, even if acting on their own, even if acting in great numbers, and even if this new Constitution was not yet in force. And again, those on the opposing side, who infiltrate a protest and cause violence in the name of a protest to smear the protest may also be charged with democide.

13/ Our new one-size-fits-all prototype democracy for the entire world must heed how so many armies have brought so many murderous dictators to power from Julius the Seizer to Adolph Hitler with thousands of others in between. Our democracy and its warriors shall not take the intimidating power of men-in-arms lightly, and for this reason, the military shall be strictly prohibited from having anything to do with political matters, especially political meetings and protests of the people. Only police and civilian militia may secure political assemblies and protests of the people. All military men shall be duty-bound to disobey all commands to attend such a meeting, if it ever is ordered, just as they are duty bound to disobey a command to fire on their own people. Any military commanders ordering their forces to act upon, secure, or intimidate political assemblies and protests of their people may be charged with democide.

14/ To assure that everyone is on their best behavior, at political protests, there shall be triple penalties for unprovoked crimes, and double penalties for over-reactions.

15/ There shall be no open flames, lighters, matches, or smoking at protests. No fire, and no fire-starters or accelerants.

16/ Government may only disband assemblies of the people for activities that occur on that day, and then the assembly shall only be disbanded for the remainder of that day.

17/ To reduce protest violence we shall say that the right to stage a group protest includes the right to protest in peace away from counter protesters. There shall be no counter-protests in the same district or in a directly contiguous district at the same time.

18/ There shall be no limitations or penalty for the words spoken or disseminated at an assembly of the people, except that it shall be a crime to call for violence, or to attempt to re-direct violence that is already occurring.

19/ Only citizens able to vote may attend, participate-in, organize, or fund political assemblies and political organizations. It shall be considered voter-fraud when non-citizens, and provisional citizens try to participate in our democracy either by their physical presence at a protest, or by their aid or donations of money. However, visitors and immigrants shall be generally free to write about public policy, so long as they don’t call for violence or revolution, and they disclose that they are non-citizens at the start and end of their work. Also, there shall be no right to hold protests in any other language but English in our land. Even citizens shall not be free to conduct protests in a foreign language.

20/ The rights of free assembly and free speech shall not apply to those who seek to dissolve democracy or do away with our freedoms. Those who advocate dictatorship, totalitarian government, monarchy, constitutional monarchy, constitutional presidency, theocracy, sharia law, totalitarian government disguised as religion, Nazism, fascism, oligarchy, the killing of other races, lynching, or the short-circuiting of due process shall have no right to assemble or protest.

21/ All news reporting of protests shall include drone images that show the true scale of the entire protest from above. This shall accurately estimate the number of protesters. News reporting must also show the faces of the people protesting so people can judge the character of the protesters.

22/ The right to assemble is a political right that shall not be diminished-by, or confused-with, riotous celebration, or protest of events that are not political, or economic. This Constitution does not guarantee the right to assemble in great numbers to celebrate or protest matters of sport.

23/ Offering or accepting money, or anything of value, including beverages, food, lodgings, transportation and sexual favors to engage in a political protest shall be considered the felony of vote buying. Those purchasing multiple protesters, along with their conspirators shall be charged with one count of vote buying for each vote purchased. These may end up spending the rest of their lives in prison.

24/ When visitors and immigrants unable to vote in our elections attempt to participate in our political process, or participate in protests, or picket, or speak in person to an assembled mass of people in our land, it shall be considered the felony of voter fraud. This item 24 shall not apply to anything said overseas, or anything in writing, or those invited or allowed by the Senate to speak in our nation. This item 24 shall however apply to non-voters who go around campaigning for a cause in our nation.

25/ Threatening people with violence for protesting or expressing their political views shall be a felony with up to 10-years in prison per count.

26/ When a fictional citizen or group schedules a distinguished person as a live public speaker for a certain period of time, the speaker shall have the absolute right to say whatever he wants for that period of time. The producers shall not be allowed to turn off the public speaker’s microphone, or interrupt him, or remove his words from the video record of the live performance. These shall not in any way seek to censor what the speaker says. Those who engage in this sort of censorship shall be subject to prosecution for the crime of illegal censorship.