Over the last few days, we are hearing from a number of local Tea Party organizers that local government officials are acting to deny them permits.
I leave it up to attorneys to decide whether government officials have the right to deny you your constitutional rights to peacefully assemble by imposing burdensome regulations on that right, and further denying that you have jumped through enough hoops to satisfy any burdensome requirements. (What happened to “hope and change”?)
I’ve started a page on Tea Party permit issues.
If you’re a local organizer and you’ve experienced any difficulties in the permit process, please record what happened here.
If you’re an attorney and you’d be willing to help local groups by making a friendly call or two to stubborn or ill-informed local government officials who are denying permits to local Tea Parties to peacefully assembly, please contact us asap at: info@taxdayteaparty.com
P.S.: Why you must insist on your right to peacefully assemble.
[...] Please report permit issues. [...]
I will keep you updated on my interactions with my Commissioners meeting on Tuesday evening that I am asking for a permit for the GRASS on the county court house. Then I go before the “Board of Public Works” for a permit for the SIDEWALK around the court house. The commissioners office told me that I need a MILLION dollar Insurance policy for this event. I called my agent and he told me he could not get me an insurance policy if I was not a BUSINESS!! The county wants this MILLION DOLLAR policy for the assemly on the grass. Wonder what the City will want for the sidewalk !!! I too, am getting a lot of interest in the rally here. I know that the media will be at the commissioners meeting on Tuesday. I will read the article you have posted here about our first amendment. And thank you in advance for posting this as I have never organized a rally before and this is very helpful !!!
Further comment on MY conversation with PD officer (who was very nice, and “down with the cause”…asked if I could get him a “keep em in Gitmo” tee)
He did go on to say that IF there were going to be considerably more than “a couple hundred”, the planning dept and other depts would get involved (ahead of time, if I notified them) and require not ONLY insurance, but extra PD on my dime @$100/hr AND porta potties on my dime also…which is why I am not going back to them.l
Ok…so when I initially called my city planning dept AND PD Traffic div…they said “no permit needed”…but I thought I would have only a “couple hundred”…now it looks like over a thousand, possibly 2 by the time the 15th gets here. (Street rally..LOL)
I am anticipating some problems ON SCENE. But zi am not going back to teh city for any further conversations…don’t want to hear a firm “no” from them…cuz I will disobey it anyway.
BUT…what to do if hassled AT our event? (Besides stay calm, etc…)
Probably so — if I were an organizer I would hesitate to post my location until I had that permit in hand.
I’m assuming, if we are not seeing a location for a scheduled, tea party in our area, that this is most likely the problem.