I don't usually touch anything by Jim Stillman. He said to Youranter and to me once that he had handled cases for the ACLU. He's an ultra-lib and for some unimaginable reason, proud of it.

The ACLU only defends the worst of the worst and never stands up for a good cause. How often have they defended abortion clinic protestors?

The Indiana Civil Liberties Union announced today that it has filed a lawsuit to stop city officials' unconstitutional infringements on the free speech rights of a Baptist preacher and his congregation.

In its lawsuit, the ICLU charges that Pastor John Lewis and his congregants from the Old Paths Baptist Church were repeatedly threatened with arrest and/or citation by the Scottsburg Police Department for using megaphones during anti-abortion demonstrations. Police officials told Pastor Lewis that they were concerned about the possible reaction of passersby who hear his message.

"Pastor Lewis and his church members were ordered to stop, not because there was some ordinance they were violating or that the noise rose to the level of disorderly conduct, but because the police were concerned that the persons hearing the message might react against it," said ICLU Legal Director Ken Falk. "This appears to be a classic case of a 'heckler's veto', which is unconstitutional."

You have a constitutionally protected right to engage in peaceful protest in traditional public forums” such as streets, sidewalks or parks. But, the government can impose "time, place and manner" restrictions on speech by requiring permits. These restrictions are generally permissible as long as they are reasonable and not based on content. The government cannot impose permit restrictions simply because it does not like the message of a certain speaker or group.

The First Amendment does not protect speech that is combined with the violation of established laws such as trespassing, disobeying or interfering with a lawful order by a police officer. Although inflammatory speakers cannot be punished for merely arousing an audience, a speaker can be arrested for incitement if he/she advocates imminent violence or specifically provokes people to commit unlawful actions.

Demonstrators who engage in civil disobedience — peaceful, but unlawful, activities as a form of protest — are not protected under the First Amendment.

If you endanger others while protesting, you can be arrested. A protest that blocks vehicular or pedestrian traffic is illegal without a permit. You do not have the right to block a building entrance or physically harass people. The general rule is that free speech activity cannot take place on private property, including outdoor malls, without the consent of the property owner. You do not have the right to remain on private property after being told to leave by the property owner.

“America isn't easy. America is advanced citizenship. You've got to want it bad, because it's going to put up a fight. It's going to say 'You want free speech? Let's see you acknowledge a man who's words make your blood boil, and who's standing center stage and advocating at the top of his lungs that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours.' You want to claim this land as the land of the free? Then the symbol of your country cannot just be a flag. The symbol also has to be one of its citizens exercising his right to burn that flag in protest. Now show me that, defend that, and celebrate that in your classrooms. Then you can stand up and sing about the land of the free.”