Skip to main content

Protesting Vs. Rioting

What Does the First Amendment Say?

    "Congress shall make no law respecting...the right of the people peaceably to assemble" (First Amendment, United States Constitution, 1791.)

    The world we live in today is like no other time in the history of America. We are battling a virus, civil unrest against the government, and civil unrest against each other. True, there is rarely a time where we are in constant "peace," but the last time our country had this much inner turmoil it launched into a civil war. The Black Lives Matter protests have swept the nation and began receiving heavy media involvement since the death of George Floyd. Yes, George Floyd was not the first, nor will he be the last. But his death was at the perfect time to launch our country into the civil unrest we see today.

What Does the First Amendment Allow/Disallow?


    Anyone can protest, for any reason. This is commonly accepted. What causes differing opinions is when these protests become dangerous and harmful to the community. What causes these protests to progress into rioting is also a major talking point. Let's talk about rioting and unlawful assemblies first.

    When a protest turns into a riot or an unlawful assembly, it is no longer protected by the first amendment. What qualifies as a riot or an unlawful assembly? According to Britannica "Riot, in criminal law, a violent offense against public order involving three or more people. Like an unlawful assembly, a riot involves a gathering of persons for an illegal purpose. In contrast to an unlawful assembly, however, a riot involves violence." (Britannica)

    Most, not all, riots start when lawful police action is taken against unlawful assemblies. For example, if there is a protest blocking the street, it is now considered an unlawful assembly because it is causing major disruptions to the general public. Police can now ask the protestors to leave and go to another location. If the protestors do not listen, the police can use non-lethal force to persuade protestors to leave.

    Now let's assume that protestors are following all laws and not causing issues towards the general public. No matter what they are talking about, as long as it's not causing major violence against a person or organization, it is protected under the first amendment right. This means that the government cannot ask them to stop or leave.

    Every situation is different and it would be wrong of us to assume otherwise. To remain respectable Communication Law students, we need to recognize this and view every situation with afresh and non-biased view.



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Cord-Cutting

  Cord-cutting is defined as “the practice of canceling or forgoing a cable television subscription or landline phone connection in favor of an alternative Internet-based or wireless service.” (Oxford dictionary) Basically, it involves moving from live TV services to streaming services. Since the 2020 pandemic, cord-cutting is up by 23% (fortune) and more and more people have been buying internet services.  eMarketer shows that advertisements have dropped over $10 billion and they have projected that it will climb back but won’t reach the original $70.59 billion until at least after 2024. That drop is almost 15% and it hasn’t been this low since 2011 (Tech Crunch).  The math is there if you are wanting to save a buck here and there. With internet costing around $60 a month plus subscription services adding around $30-40, that's still nowhere near what an average cable cost would be. Spectrum offers just internet for $49.99 a month and you can add cable to that for an ...

How does social media leave a permanent footprint?

  How does social media leave a permanent footprint? Whatever you put out on the internet, whether that be pictures, timeline posts, your resume, or just your random thoughts, will always be out there. Even if you delete those posts, someone could’ve screenshotted it or recorded it. Along with your social media posts, people can also find out more about you through your credit scores and your bank accounts. With the age of facial recognition, people can find out everything they need to know about you just from a simple picture in a crowded area. Juan Enriquez says that the internet is just as if not more permanent than tattoos and like tattoos they can show the world a specific image or feeling that you are wanting to share. That image can stay around for longer than we are alive. He says that because of this, we are getting close to immortality. Companies can take the info that they learn about you and use it to market their products specifically to you. Enriquez used an example...

Video Games and the Diffusion Theory

  Video Games and the Diffusion Theory Video games have become a staple in most households all around the world. They allow for engaging entertainment. They can shape the way you view or see the world or they just allow people to have an outlet to escape their day-to-day lives. In 1972, Nolan Bushnell and Al Alcorn of Atari created a virtual ping pong table that you could play in an arcade called Pong . This was the birth of modern video games as we know it. It became so popular that the machines would often break due to overuse and clogging the coin slots with quarters.  Soon after Pong came Space Invaders from Taito in 1978. This began the big boom in video game production that included  Pac-Man , Donkey Kong , and Tron that all came along in the early ’80s.  Video games began to gain popularity due to the kids of that time. They wanted things to do outside of the house and this was an easy escape for them. It got so popular so quickly due to how fast ...