Protecting Our Rights to Assemble and Petition

by Tom Campbell

One of the inalienable rights of citizenship in this nation is the First Amendment right to peaceably assemble and to petition for a governmental redress of grievances. Recent events at our General Assembly, however, warrant concern that those freedoms might be in jeopardy.

The state NAACP, along with others, has made no secret of their opposition to actions taken by this General Assembly and have declared to assemble at the legislative building on Mondays to protest. Each week the crowds grow in numbers, with protestors carrying signs, chanting and congregating in the public areas of the building.

Is this considered a “peaceable assembly?” Security personnel at the legislative building evidently don’t think so and have ordered the protestors to disburse and leave. When protestors refuse to do so they told they are trespassing and, after a second warning, are arrested. To date, some 150 arrests have been made.

But there are clear instances where persons merely observing the protests were also told they had to leave the building. In one instance, Reverend Vernon Tyson, a retired Methodist pastor, was told to leave. When he inquired why he must leave he was told that he was trespassing. “Well, I’m a taxpaying citizen,” Vernon responded in a video interview, “and this is the people’s house and I don’t see how I can trespass in a house that I helped build – and I’m not blocking anybody and I’m not demonstrating. I’m not singing. I’m not clapping my hands. I’m not making any noise. The only people I talk to are you,” Tyson said he reported telling the security guard. He was arrested anyway.

Let us be clear that behavior that inhibits the work inside any public building, is loud, abusive, violent or disruptive cannot be condoned and could be sufficient cause for arrest if violators do not disburse. But arbitrary rules passed by legislators or any public bodies to prevent peaceable assembly are just as intolerable. They are unconstitutional.

There is an important message here. We do not have to agree with those who protest or approve their manner or messages. It is understandable that public officials don’t like having people protesting their actions and equally understandable that those charged with maintaining security be concerned with the safety of people and property.  But we have a long and storied tradition of defending with every fiber of our being every citizen’s right to assemble and petition.

North Carolina refused to ratify the United States Constitution until this and nine other freedoms were guaranteed in the Bill of Rights. Those guarantees were important enough to withhold our joining the new union then and are no less important today. We urge our legislative leaders, security personnel and all public officials to honor those principles we struggled to obtain and, at the same time, send strong signals they will be safeguarded for future generations.