During a hearing on Friday, Richmond prosecutor Michael
Herring and a majority of the 30 women’s rights protesters who were arrested on
the steps of the state Capitol in March appear to have reached a tentative deal
that would avoid jail time.[1]
Herring said that charges of trespassing will be waived
after six months of “good behavior” (i.e. not challenging the government) by
the demonstrators, but only if the demonstrators concede that Capitol police
had the authority to arrest them.
A few indicated that they would not take the deal, according
to Herring, in which case the Richmond prosecutor would not argue for more than
community service if convicted.
This “deal”, from beginning to end, stinks. The women’s
rights protesters, like any group or groups of protesters, have a right to
peacefully demonstrate on public grounds and therefore have the right to expect
that police will not arrest them for their activities.
As Del. Delores L. McQuinn (D-Richmond) said shortly after
the initial arrests of the demonstrators, “The men and women who marched on
Capitol Square have a right to peacefully protest without the threat they will
be arrested for exercising that right.”[2]
Across the country, at the local and federal levels, the
right to protest has been subtlety restricted or simply ignored, as was the
case in the women’s rights demonstration at the state Capitol in Richmond.[3]
Thus, a foundational American right is being brushed aside by political elites
who simply wish to rid themselves of individuals exercising their freedom to
assemble peacefully to exercise their freedom of speech.
The bottom line is that the Capitol police did NOT have the
authority to arrest the protesters at the state Capitol because any law which
abridged the right to demonstrate on public grounds is unconstitutional.
There are few outlets through which the public can voice its
discontent with their government outside of the voting booths, which obviously only
usually occurs every two to four years. Therefore, the right to peacefully
protest is an essential element of any functioning democracy and any laws which
impede this right are invalid.
Gov. McDonnell or any governor in the future cannot use
their police power to arbitrarily arrest peaceful protesters. That, my fellow
Virginians, is a form of tyranny.
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