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Designed to End Protesting": Louisiana Supreme Court Makes Protesters Guilty by Association
The state joins others in broadening liability and heightening the legal risks of protesting.Daniel Nichanian | March 28, 2022
A ruling by the Louisiana Supreme Court on Friday adds to a string of developments following 2020’s George Floyd protests that threaten demonstrators with harsh penalties for the actions of others.
The court ruled that an advocate who helped organize a Black Lives Matter rally could be sued for events that took place during that rally, even though he was not involved. The case arose after a police officer was injured during a protest in Baton Rouge in 2016 and filed a lawsuit against DeRay Mckesson, a national advocate who had amplified and joined the demonstration. Mckesson rejected liability, saying his actions were protected by the First Amendment, but the court ruled against him in Friday’s 6-1 opinion.
The lone dissenter was the court’s only Black judge, Justice Piper Griffin. “The finding of a duty in this case will have a chilling effect on political protests in general as nothing prevents a bad actor from attending an otherwise peaceful protest and committing acts of violence,” wrote Griffin, who is a Democrat elected in a judicial district that contains parts of New Orleans. “The flow of political speech could hinge on which viewpoints had patrons with deeper pockets.”
Mandie Landry, a Democratic lawmaker who was already vocal against efforts to target protesters in Louisiana, echoed Griffin’s worry that the ruling risks stifling political organizing. “It seems like this is designed to end protesting,” she told Bolts. “It’s designed to chill speech.”
Landry, who is also a lawyer, says the court has applied an appallingly broad standard of negligence to protesters. “It almost seems like anyone who goes to, or is near, or talks about, or even reshares a graphic about a protest could potentially be sued under this,” she said. Jonathan Miller, chief program officer at the Public Rights Project, calls the ruling the latest example of a broader trend where “states seek to hold all involved in peaceful marches accountable for any violence that might occur, even if they do not start it, control it, or participate in it.”
“It is an attempt to stop mobilizations in their tracks out of fear of personal liability or responsibility for all who participate in such mobilizations,” Miller told Bolts.
The lawsuit against Mckesson is one in a number of recent cases where cops and courts have ensnared Black Lives Matter supporters. Police investigated a Utah senator in 2020 for allegedly donating money to a fund that Black Lives Matter protesters used to buy red paint that they spilled in front of the district attorney’s office. Also in 2020, police in Portsmouth, Virginia, filed charges against local Black leaders, including a state senator, who were present at a rally where people toppled a Confederate statue. The police also tried to sideline prosecutor Stephanie Morales, who is Black, though she eventually asserted control and dismissed the charges.
“If that scares us and bothers us in this instance where it became national news because elected officials are charged, you got to think about the many times where people are being charged and lives are being ruined where nobody’s watching,” Morales told Bolts about the events in Portsmouth.
More..........
https://boltsmag.org/designed-to-end-protesting-louisiana/
The court ruled that an advocate who helped organize a Black Lives Matter rally could be sued for events that took place during that rally, even though he was not involved. The case arose after a police officer was injured during a protest in Baton Rouge in 2016 and filed a lawsuit against DeRay Mckesson, a national advocate who had amplified and joined the demonstration. Mckesson rejected liability, saying his actions were protected by the First Amendment, but the court ruled against him in Friday’s 6-1 opinion.
The lone dissenter was the court’s only Black judge, Justice Piper Griffin. “The finding of a duty in this case will have a chilling effect on political protests in general as nothing prevents a bad actor from attending an otherwise peaceful protest and committing acts of violence,” wrote Griffin, who is a Democrat elected in a judicial district that contains parts of New Orleans. “The flow of political speech could hinge on which viewpoints had patrons with deeper pockets.”
Mandie Landry, a Democratic lawmaker who was already vocal against efforts to target protesters in Louisiana, echoed Griffin’s worry that the ruling risks stifling political organizing. “It seems like this is designed to end protesting,” she told Bolts. “It’s designed to chill speech.”
Landry, who is also a lawyer, says the court has applied an appallingly broad standard of negligence to protesters. “It almost seems like anyone who goes to, or is near, or talks about, or even reshares a graphic about a protest could potentially be sued under this,” she said. Jonathan Miller, chief program officer at the Public Rights Project, calls the ruling the latest example of a broader trend where “states seek to hold all involved in peaceful marches accountable for any violence that might occur, even if they do not start it, control it, or participate in it.”
“It is an attempt to stop mobilizations in their tracks out of fear of personal liability or responsibility for all who participate in such mobilizations,” Miller told Bolts.
The lawsuit against Mckesson is one in a number of recent cases where cops and courts have ensnared Black Lives Matter supporters. Police investigated a Utah senator in 2020 for allegedly donating money to a fund that Black Lives Matter protesters used to buy red paint that they spilled in front of the district attorney’s office. Also in 2020, police in Portsmouth, Virginia, filed charges against local Black leaders, including a state senator, who were present at a rally where people toppled a Confederate statue. The police also tried to sideline prosecutor Stephanie Morales, who is Black, though she eventually asserted control and dismissed the charges.
“If that scares us and bothers us in this instance where it became national news because elected officials are charged, you got to think about the many times where people are being charged and lives are being ruined where nobody’s watching,” Morales told Bolts about the events in Portsmouth.
More..........
https://boltsmag.org/designed-to-end-protesting-louisiana/
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