TheAgitator.com
No Dancing at the Jefferson Memorial
Tuesday, January 26th, 2010A federal judge has thrown out Brooke Oberwetter’s lawsuit against the National Park Police, who arrested her in 2008 for quietly dancing at the Thomas Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C.
I haven’t read the opinion yet, but the Washington Post write-up focuses on whether dancing can be prohibited at the Memorial. Seems to me Brooke was arrested in part merely for asking what law she had violated.
(Disclosure, Brooke is a friend. And I attended the “Thomas Jefferson Dance Party,” although I arrived after all the drama had happened.)
There’s something positively perverse that a memorial to Thomas Jefferson is “not a place of public expression.” Preventing disruptive behavior is one thing, banning all express is just wrong.
Officer: You’re under arrest!
Tourist: What did I do?
Officer: I saw you walking backwards.
Tourist: What??? I was backing up to get the whole statue in my camera’s viewfinder…
Officer: Looked like the moonwalk to me! You’re going downtown…
“The Memorial is akin to a temple or a shrine (both in terms of its purpose and its physical characteristics), not a place of public expression.”
“Dammit, there’s not enough room in this grave to roll over”
It’s not a place of public expression even though it was built with your tax dollars.
I think police officers are given too hard a time.
Stop getting on their case all the time and try reporting some real news about celebrities or kittens.
All this talk of ‘freedom’ is offensive.
The government decrees you have to be reverent in the presence of Thomas Jefferson’s memorial. And if you regard dancing as a joyful expression of reverence? Ahh, too bad — it’s not cleared by the government as a proper form of reverence.
They should publish a fucking list of acceptable facial expressions and gestures.
“Officer, my client would like to smile broadly while waving her arms in the direction of Jefferson’s statue. May we proceed?”
“I’m going to need more information about the intended smile — will teeth be exposed? Will the smile be fleeting or persistent, as defined by the CFC? Further, as to said waving of arms, please submit a chart of proposed arm movements. Be sure to include appropriate notations regarding degree of tilt, length of armspan, and vigor of waving motion.”
Reading the decision. I love the “opacity does not decide cases” on page 10.
Pg. 18: “But whether the regulation produces some silly results does not
determine the outcome here.”
”I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man “– Thomas Jefferson
(IIRC, these words are inscribed on the memorial itself.)
*sigh*
Pg. 24: “Instructively, the D.C. Circuit has upheld as reasonable the level of force Officer Hilliard used here in a factually analogous context. In Wasserman, a park police officer arrested an individual walking his dogs in violation of a District of Columbia municipal ordinance.”
The U.S. Park Police: the thin blue line protecting America against dog walkers and people who dance quietly in public.
Where did you find it, facial expression monitor?
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/crime-scene/jeffersondecision.pdf
There is a lamp post in DC missing a suitable decoration.
This may be law enforcement’s last warning:
http://www.hourofthetime.com/dearofficer.htm
I am being forced to choose between staying aware of the realities of twenty-first century America and finding my Zen. I may have to find a way for nirvana and burning anger to coexist. Damn.
From the decision… I guessing this means MLK’s speech would result in his arrest? And I did not find Obama’s inaguration celebration to be particularly calm and tranquil. He should be arrested, and all of the performers who participated too.
” Indeed, the Park Service may not issue permits for demonstrations and special events at the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, the Jefferson Memorial, and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. See id. §
7.96(g)(3)(ii)(A)-(D). The Park Service’s stated goal in prohibiting demonstrations at these four monuments is “protecting legitimate security and park value interests, including the maintenance
of an atmosphere of calm, tranquility, and reverence in the vicinity of [these] memorials.”
Ah reading further in, the inaguration would be ok because it was an ‘offical’ event.
Still, MLK would be in deep doo doo, as there were clearly more than 26 individuals at his demonstration.
There’s so many things wrong with this decision I don’t even know where to begin. Dear god.
Ironic that a citizen should be arrested for expessing her 1st ammendment rights at the memorial of a man who once said ~ I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it.
There is only one thing to do: KEEP DOING THE EVENT. Month after month. Year after year. If this only happens once, it won’t amount to anything. If you keep doing it, it is civil disobedience.
Radley, keep us posted on whether or not there is another one. I don’t live in DC but would definitely plan to attend.
And a side note: we have to reclaim ALL our public places. I was once hassled by the Post Office for circulating a petition, despite the fact that it has been protected as public space in court decisions.
I was told they would “prefer” that we not circulate petitions there, but if we did we had to get written permission from the local postmaster. Who just happened to not be available at the moment.
Man, I have GOT to quit reading this blog. This is one gynormously fucked up country.
#20 has the right idea. protest.
and there is no sex, in the Champagne Room
Over at the Volokh Conspiracy, Eugene Volokh says that the decision “Sounds right to me.”