With 47 days until Election Day, the head of the ACLU for D.C. sent a letter to the chiefs of local and federal law enforcement agencies “to open the lines of communication regarding free speech rights,” ahead of protests over the election, certification of election results and presidential inaugurations.
Thursday’s letter to the chiefs of D.C., Capitol and Park Police, as well as the head of the Secret Service and D.C. National Guard is from Scott Michelman, legal director for ACLU of the District of Columbia.
“As you know, Washington, D.C. is a special location for the public expression of views, as it is the place where the people of our nation can speak in closest proximity to where their elected leaders formulate laws and policies on their behalf,” wrote Michelman. “The ACLU-D. C. believes we all share a strong interest in ensuring, during what might be a tense period, that people can exercise their constitutional right to express themselves, here in the District.”
Michelman said the actions that law enforcement took on Jan. 6, 2021, “played a significant role in preserving the integrity of our democratic processes.”
“It should go without saying that the ACLU-D. C. does not believe that the First Amendment even remotely supports a right to storm the Capitol (or any other government building) or to assault members of Congress or Capitol Police (or anyone),” wrote Michelman.
However, he said he hoped law enforcement would remember other demonstrations in D.C. that were “lawful and constitutional, but (were) nonetheless suppressed via unconstitutional conduct by law enforcement.”
Michelman cited the 2020 protest at Lafayette Square, where residents called for police reform after George Floyd’s murder; the 2017 Inauguration Day protest; as well as the 2002 World Bank protests in Pershing Park.
Michelman said he hopes police will remember the settlements they were able to reach in earlier protests.
The cases resulted in significant policy reforms that he said “protect demonstrators’ rights to express themselves — such as restrictions on dispersals and arrests, identification requirements for officers, and other safeguards against ‘guilt-by-association’ tactics in which the unlawful conduct of a few individuals within a crowd is used to justify widespread detentions or uses of force.”
With Election Day fast approaching, Michelman encouraged the chiefs and their legal advisers to contact him directly.
“There may be disputes about the First Amendment or related rights that we can work together to resolve through discussion rather than litigation,” said Michelman.