Free Republic

Mayor Bowser had the DC Police Dept physically lock Trump supporters into their hotels in DC last night. This was HIGHLY dangerous, unconstitutional, and never done during Antifa riots.

The best case for a right to party is in the right of assembly, placed in the Bill of Rights as many deadly diseases threatened the American population.In Alexander Pushkin’s “Feast in a Time of Plague,” an old priest returning from a mass funeral of plague victims catches young people partying, and unleashes a 19th-century rant: “A godless banquet, godless madmen all … Go back now to your homes!” “Be off, old man!” The partygoers yell back in a period version of “OK, Boomer.” Another tells the priest: “Our homes are sad. And youth is fond of joyousness.”Human nature remains...

As coronavirus cases surge again nationwide the Supreme Court late Wednesday temporarily barred New York from enforcing certain attendance limits at houses of worship in areas designated as hard hit by the virus. The justices split 5-4 to bar the state from enforcing the restrictions against the groups for now, with new Justice Amy Coney Barrett in the majority. It was the conservative's first publicly discernible vote as a justice. The court’s three liberal justices and Chief Justice John Roberts dissented

Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) warned on Sunday that certain areas of New York City are heading toward tighter coronavirus restrictions, including the most restrictive “red zone” which prohibits all gatherings deemed “non-essential.” The Democrat governor stated some areas, namely Staten Island, Long Island, and parts of Manhattan, are “in the warning track” and could soon face additional restrictions due to concerns over rising infection rates and hospital capacity.

Disneyland and other large theme parks will not required to comply with California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s order against large gatherings to counter the spread of COVID-19. Newsom said California public health officials issued an updated policy saying “non-essential” gatherings such as sporting events, concerts and conferences should be postponed or canceled until at least the end of March.

No sanctions for two protesters who are student government officials What is it with leftist activists seeing libraries as places to scream and threaten other students? The College Republicans at the University of California-Santa Cruz faced a two-hour siege by protesters who said their very act of meeting quietly in the McHenry Library was “violent racist activity.” To their credit, the CRs never fought back or screamed, and didn’t even call the police. That was a call made by school officials when it became clear the CRs were staying put and the protesters wouldn’t stop menacing them, according to Campus...

Republican presidential hopeful Jeb Bush has been forced to abandon a rally early because of a protest from Black Lives Matter. The former governor of Florida was in Las Vegas for a town hall meeting on Wednesday when he answered a question on racial inequality. An advocate in the crowd of around 150 then started to chant their slogan, so he quickly ended his speech and left the venue without making a final statement or shaking hands with members of the audience. The music he plays when he walks off stage is heard in the background of a video as...

Law makers in Fairfax County, Va., want to limit how many guests you can have in your private home and how frequent they can visit. This sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen. The proposed amendment, which was first presented to the Board of Supervisors on Feb. 18, would prohibit any gatherings “exceeding forty-nine people in one day [from occurring] more frequently than three times in any forty day period.” They also want to add more specific language to define “a permissible ‘group assembly’” The county’s official website claims that there is a good reason behind the proposed amendment. The...

FAIRFAX, Va. – A plan to ban “frequent and large gatherings at neighborhood homes” is a lawsuit waiting to happen, a Fairfax County supervisor predicts.Officials will get an idea Wednesday when public-comment hearings begin in Virginia’s most populous county.“I believe the county is risking a lawsuit and/or a constitution challenge by interfering with peoples’ right to assemble,” Supervisor Pat Herrity said in a statement.The proposed zoning ordinance limits “group assembly” at residences to 49 people a day. Such gatherings “shall not occur more frequently than three times in any 40-day period.”County officials say they have received complaints about group meetings...

A plan to ban "frequent and large gatherings at neighborhood homes" is a lawsuit waiting to happen, a Fairfax County supervisor predicts. Officials will get an idea Wednesday when public-comment hearings begin in Virginia's most populous county. "I believe the county is risking a lawsuit and/or a constitution challenge by interfering with peoples' right to assemble," Supervisor Pat Herrity said in a statement. The proposed zoning ordinance limits "group assembly" at residences to 49 people a day. Such gatherings "shall not occur more frequently than three times in any 40-day period."

A cross that was first erected nearly 80 years ago by the Veterans of Foreign Wars in honor of the heroes of World War I will finally be allowed to stand. More than a decade after the ACLU originally sued to have the cross memorial removed from public land, a case which ended up at the Supreme Court, a federal judge has approved a settlement of the case allowing the cross to remain. The ACLJ has been fighting to allow this cross to stand for years - an important war memorial in honor of those who have heroically served in...

SAN FRANCISCO -An illegal, Orwellian violation of free-speech rights? Or just a smart tactic to protect train passengers' safety from rowdy would-be demonstrators during a busy evening commute? The question resonated Saturday in San Francisco and beyond as details emerged of Bay Area Rapid Transit officials' decision to cut off underground cell phone service for a few hours at some stations Thursday. Commuters at stations from downtown to the city's main airport were affected as BART officials sought to tactically thwart a planned protest over the recent fatal shooting of a 45-year-old man by transit police. Two days later, the...

The decision by Bay Area Rapid Transit officials to cut off cellphone service Thursday evening – to forestall a planned protest – raises a fundamental question: Do Americans have a basic right to digital free speech or to digitally organized assembly? Because July protests against BART police shootings had turned violent, BART officials took the unusual step to protect public safety, they said. The tactic may have worked: No protests took place Thursday night at BART stations. Temporarily shutting down cell service and beefing up police patrols were "great tool[s] to utilize for this specific purpose," BART police Lt. Andy...

BART officials acknowledged this afternoon that they shut down cell phone and wireless data service in its downtown San Francisco stations to disrupt a planned protest. Their announcement sparked denunciations from civil libertarians and the apparent threat of a cyber-attack on the BART website. A statement posted on the transit agency's website said the communications blackout was ordered in the interest of public safety: "Organizers planning to disrupt BART service on August 11, 2011 stated they would use mobile devices to coordinate their disruptive activities and communicate about the location and number of BART Police," the statement reads. "A civil...

Last month, a young man posting on a Website dubbed "The Urban Prankster Network" (Headquarters for Global Agents of Stealth Comedy!) suggested a novel way to cool off the city of Austin, Texas, when the inevitable hell of a Texas summer bakes streets and fries brains: a city-wide water gun and water balloon war waged by a "flash mob." It could happen. American "flash mobs" often involve goofy stunts -- the "digital social network" and "cell phone with text-message" age equivalent of 1950s-era collegians cramming sophomores into a phone booth (when phone booths still existed). A flash mob organizer might...

An error in judgment I remember several years ago, 1997, when the skinheads planned to come to town to hold a music festival. In response, Hate-Free TC was born and, along with it, the wonderful idea of a Unity Festival - a musical festival for the entire Traverse City area, to show our unity and respect for the diversity we embrace. The skinheads wanted national attention, which they got. That is why they planned their concert during the Cherry Festival. The Unity Fest was held in the City Opera House. It was a great success! And Hate-Free TC is still...

Belgium's far-right Vlaams Blok was branded racist in a supreme court ruling that will force one of Europe's most successful anti-immigrant parties to relaunch itself. The supreme court upheld a verdict by a lower court in April that found the party to be guilty of "permanent incitement to segregation and racism".