Oregon Law Would Jail Protesters as Terrorists

#1 Thu, 3 Apr 2003 - 09:04

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dy...2-2003Apr2.html

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PORTLAND, Oregon (Reuters) - An Oregon anti-terrorism bill would jail street-blocking protesters for at least 25 years in a thinly veiled effort to discourage anti-war demonstrations, critics say.

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Dubbed Senate Bill 742, it identifies a terrorist as a person who "plans or participates in an act that is intended, by at least one of its participants, to disrupt" business, transportation, schools, government, or free assembly.

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Larson said protesters should be protected by free speech laws, but not given free reign to hold up ambulances or frighten people out of their daily routines, adding that police and the court system could be trusted to see the difference.

#2 Thu, 3 Apr 2003 - 09:25

Good luck getting the police in Portland to enforce this!

My message to protesters: Protest all you want, it's your right. But don't interfere with other people's rights - getting to work, having undamaged property, etc.

#3 Thu, 3 Apr 2003 - 18:06

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Originally posted by davesimondotcom:
Good luck getting the police in Portland to enforce this!

Well, the police aren't wearing tie-dyed yet:

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PORTLAND -- Honking motorists beware -- if you honk your horn for anything other than an emergency, you could get a ticket.
Four drivers who recently honked at anti-war demonstrators near City Hall received tickets for up to $77 a piece.

According to ORS 815.225, "A person commits the offense of violation of use limits on sound equipment if the person does any of the following: Uses a horn otherwise than as a reasonable warning or makes any unnecessary or unreasonably loud or harsh sound by means of a horn or other warning device."

These recent tickets have brought the Portland Police Bureau under fire. The reason -- they haven't ticketed anybody honking for pro-troop and pro-war rallies. Officers stand by their actions, saying they aren�t taking sides.

http://www.koin.com/webnews/2003/20...rnhonking.shtml

#4 Thu, 3 Apr 2003 - 21:59

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Originally posted by Ver de Terre:
Well, the police aren't wearing tie-dyed yet:

http://www.koin.com/webnews/2003/20...rnhonking.shtml

Koins got it wrong, I personally spoke with one of the people who got the ticket and they were honking in support of a pro troops rally.

#5 Thu, 3 Apr 2003 - 22:23

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Originally posted by BkueKanoodle:
Koins got it wrong, I personally spoke with one of the people who got the ticket and they were honking in support of a pro troops rally.

Ah. Well, was he passing the peace camp? Because the Oregonian story says that one of the people who got ticketed was honking because he was angry at the protesters.

http://oregonlive.com/news/oregonia...74817290280.xml

#6 Thu, 3 Apr 2003 - 22:57

Sounds like a state full of uptight honkeys to me.

BG

P.S. Yes, I know I used a racial slur. The importance of the pun outweighed PC, though, and this cracker got a laugh out of it.

#7 Thu, 3 Apr 2003 - 23:02

Well if you noticed the KOIN story was written by the AP. I haven't seen the oregonian article, but I know they use a lot of AP story as well, so it wouldn't surpise me if it was from the same article.

I think its funny when the local news outlets use a national wire service for reports in their own backyard.

#8 Fri, 4 Apr 2003 - 08:32

These people don't get it, do they?