Reclaiming the Petition Clause

Download or read book Reclaiming the Petition Clause written by Ronald J. Krotoszynski and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2012-04-24 with total page 335 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since the 2004 presidential campaign, when the Bush presidential advance team prevented anyone who seemed unsympathetic to their candidate from attending his ostensibly public appearances, it has become commonplace for law enforcement officers and political event sponsors to classify ordinary expressions of dissent as security threats and to try to keep officeholders as far removed from possible protest as they can. Thus without formally limiting free speech the government places arbitrary restrictions on how, when, and where such speech may occur.