John Nichols: Why a March on Washington vet was arrested Monday ... for singing

[hue]

http://host.madison.com/ct/news/opinion/column/john_nichols/john-nichols-why-a-march-on-washington-vet-was-arrested/article_35a8b704-94e5-50f3-9d0e-8472be99332b.html

The participants in the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom could be forgiven for resting on their laurels in this week of 50th anniversary celebrations.

But David Newby is still marching.

Or, to be more precise, singing.

The former member of the AFL-CIO executive board and longtime president of the Wisconsin AFL-CIO was arrested Monday for singing labor and civil rights songs in the Wisconsin Capitol. Newby has been a regular participant in the Solidarity Sing Along, a noontime gathering that traces its roots to the pro-labor demonstrations that drew the attention of the world to Wisconsin in February and March, 2011.

The singalongs, loosely organized and good-spirited, went on each day in the Capitol for more than two years with little trouble. But this summer, Gov. Scott Walker, who is positioning himself as a tough-talking conservative candidate for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, organized a crackdown that has seen more than 300 tickets issued to singers.
The charge is that the singers have failed to get permits for their gatherings. But the permitting process — which assigns financial responsibility to the permit holder — is newly developed and lawyers for the singers argue that it was established not to maintain order but to silence dissent.

Newby knows a thing or two about official barriers to dissent.