For one, both the United States and Rhode Island prisons are full to overflowing (I know—I teach community college classes in the RI Adult Correctional Institution). As a nation, we also know that we have a problem with mass incarceration. In fact, it is one of the few bipartisan issues that currently has any traction. Filling more prison beds with nonviolent activists does not help.
Designating people felons disenfranchises them—in some ways formally and directly, and in other ways informally and indirectly. Convicted felons can vote in Rhode Island, but that is not the case everywhere, and there are almost universal employment and housing consequences for those with felony convictions. If every Rhode Islander who participated in blocking highways during the Black Lives Matter protests was convicted of felonies, a substantial portion of the activists in our state would not only be locked away for some time, but permanently relegated to second-class citizenship. To suggest that the bill has another purpose is to engage in delusion.
The threat of felony convictions would, of course, discourage activism, which is a grave mistake. Activists—indeed, civil disobedience—is responsible for some of the greatest social transformations in history, including the suffrage and civil rights movements, to name just two. Activism and civil disobedience have an important place in American democracy.
Third, ambulances are routinely deterred from highways for reasons unrelated to protest. Several months ago President Obama visited Providence, and the highway was shut for several miles during his stay, necessitating a full detour around the city for many of us to get home. There was no outcry about closing highways for such an occasion.
Fourth and finally, because of the bill’s language and the great degree of police discretion it implies, the legislation could scoop up the homeless, further criminalizing poverty. The bill targets anyone that “stands, sits, kneels, or otherwise loiters on any federal or state highway” and that “could reasonably be construed as interfering with the lawful movement of traffic”—meaning, of course, that those who live on the streets would be prosecutable for simply being there.
The First Amendment protects our right to free speech. To turn over the decision of determining when a protest has become “interference” effectively passes off that right to free speech to the discretion of the officers patrolling the event. The bill is on the table in Rhode Island, but it has tremendous implications for freedom of speech elsewhere, and could powerfully affect the climate of activism in the entire country.
Senator Raptakis, for example, thinks that highway blockades are “not the best way to protest.”
Hearing this, I am reminded of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous remarks from the Birmingham Jail about the “moderate, who is more devoted to ‘order’ than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: ‘I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action’; who,” King concludes, “paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man’s freedom.”
Let’s let this bill die.
]]>“I don’t necessarily agree it should be a felony,” said Anthony Capezza, state director International Brotherhood of Police Officers. He also conceded that the bill is more broadly written than need be. “I agree, it’s broadly written, where somebody just an individual standing in the street, could be charged under this.”
Rep. Ray Hull, who sponsored Raptakis’ bill that would make highway protests a felony punishable by at least a year in jail, distanced himself from the strict sentencing mandate after tough questioning from Rep. Joe Almeida during the hearing. Rep. Dennis Canario, sponsored a similar bill and testified his version was superior because it carries a misdemeanor sentencing guideline.
Of the 19 people who testified only Sen. Lou Raptakis said a felony conviction was warranted for protesting on a highway.
In spite of obvious public interest in the proposed legislation (the hearing was covered by RI Future, RIPR and the Providence Journal), legislators chose not to broadcast it on Capitol TV. For those interested, Steve Ahlquist recorded the entire meeting and what follows is video clips of all the public testimony.
Andy Horowitz, law professor Roger Williams University:
Ellen Tuzzolo, Providence resident:
Stan Tran, former Republican candidate for congress:
Malcus Mills, Direct Action for Rights and Equality:
Kristin Dart, Rhode Island Coalition for Reproductive Justice:
Steve Brown, ACLU:
Laura Ucik, Brown Medical School student:
Fred Ordonez, executive director, Direct Action for Rights and Equality:
Megan Smith, Rhode Island Homeless Advocacy Project:
Michael DiLauro, public defender:
Martha Yaeger, American Friends Service Committee:
David Fisher, rabble-rouser:
Sheila Wilhelm, Direct Action for Rights and Equality:
Barry Schiller, a transportation activists said bicyclists could be charged under the legislation:
Randall Rose, activist:
Anthony Capezza, state director International Brotherhood of Police Officers:
Rep. Ray Hull:
Rep. Dennis Canario:
Sen. Lou Raptakis:
]]>A recent report ranked Rhode Island as the third worst in the nation for Black people. There are very wide racial gaps in income, employment and education. And it was only 14 years ago that a Black Providence cop was shot and killed by a White Providence cop.
So I asked Sen. Lou Raptakis and Rep. Ray Hull, the sponsors of the bills that would make highway protests a felony, what they think of the Black Lives Matter movement, and other pointed questions about racism in Rhode Island and historical context.
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