Meanwhile, in the land of the less and less free

Prosecutors and defense attorneys have only just begun to wrestle over the facts in an unprecedented series of felony trials stemming from the mass round-up arrest of hundreds of protesters on Inauguration Day. The federal government is arguing that everyone charged was an active participant, provoking alarming notions of collective punishment, but video evidence and media reports indicate that many caught in the mass arrest were not organized Antifa disrupters but rather onlookers caught in a dragnet.

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A serious felony case against someone who says he was conducting constitutionally protected journalism puts the whole of the reporting profession at some real risk, with years yet to go in a presidency that’s already galvanizing unusual levels of street unrest.

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The serial tech hang-ups gave the proceedings an air of farce. But what’s going on in that room is no remedial IT lesson. The government’s case puts the protections embedded at the very top of the Bill of Rights under serious duress.

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Lawyers from each side struggled Tuesday to work up any kind of rhythm in their questioning because of the repeated interruptions necessary to navigate the gigantic pile of video evidence the government is relying upon. One might expect a serious felony trial involving thousands of gigabytes of video data covering hours of chaos in the streets to have some state-of-the-art system for playback — or at least the kind of pre-cut clips common on sports highlights shows.

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Wonky HDMI cables, rechargeable wireless headsets and frozen laptops repeatedly left the well-meaning but often confused attorneys to spar with technology more than with each other.

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A glitch in the courtroom systems caused the volume to automatically snap back to zero each time a user switched from one video to another or turns the screens off and back on.

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Lawyers examining witnesses consistently shut off the courtroom’s half-dozen large video screens when they weren’t needed.

Or at least, they tried. The glowing rectangles didn’t always cooperate. At one point when the screens were supposed to be dark, the Microsoft Windows lock screen showed up on all the monitors. The background image was an artsy stock photo of small loaves of bread cooling on a drying rack.

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The system befuddled defense attorneys just as much during their attempts at cross-examination. When one of the six defendants’ lawyers sought to play back video for a Metropolitan Police Department officer, her colleague’s computer froze up and only played sound. As the team tried to figure it out, Judge Lynn Leibovitz leaned toward their table and suggested they all “might want to get a tech person.”

  Think Progress

And to think, innocent bystanders and journalists in danger of being sent to prison for decades are what's at stake.

And in other "free speech" news...

“An Act to preserve the use of public land, to ensure free travel, to enhance emergency response, and to declare an emergency” passed both chambers of South Dakota’s legislature and was signed into law by the governor in March 2017. This legislation allows him to establish “public safety zones,” in which protest activities can be limited and violators could face jail time.

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“My administration brought this bill to protect those who want to peacefully exercise their First Amendment rights, as well as the people who reside in and travel through our state,” the Governor said in a press release. “Legislators on both sides of the aisle voted to support this bill and I appreciate their recognition of the urgency of this issue.”

  Free Speech Project

Legislators on both sides of the aisle should be ashamed of themselves.

SB 176 allows the governor to establish “public safety zones,” in which gatherings of more than 20 people are prohibited. [...] [A] first offense carries a minimum of 10 days, and a second offense within two years would be considered a felony. [...] “The governor respects the rights of peaceful protesters and he knows the vast majority are not violent or dangerous.”  [...]  “The reason for bringing this legislation is the protests in North Dakota and the upcoming construction of the Keystone XL pipeline in South Dakota. Governor Daugaard wants to learn from North Dakota’s experience to be prepared.”

No doubt he'd like to avoid those images of company thugs turning canons of freezing water and vicious dogs on a group of peacefully protesting Native Americans.

Twenty people. "For their own good."  If that doesn't pull the teeth out of a protest, I don't know what will.

Until George W Bush instigated "free speech zones" for protesters, this whole country used to be a free speech zone.  I can't understand what happened to the American people.  What are we so afraid of that we roll over to the continuing march of laws that impede our freedom and shut down our rights? 

But I'm predicting there will be some backlash to this law.