Free speech should not be caged

The Impolitic noticed this "little noticed" provision in the Patriot Act a while ago when Ben Masel brought it to our attention. It's even more timely now, in the context of the illegal secret surveillance on Americans that has come to light in the interim. From Free Market News.

This new criminal class of "disruptor" and the crime of "disruptive behavior" could be used to harass and imprison anyone expressing free speech in a way deemed … well, "disruptive" to the event in question. The article then goes on to discuss what sorts of behavior this term "disruptor" could be used to control, based on what we already know about the Bush paradigms. It concludes that if this law is passed, it could mean wearing a controversial t-shirt, or sporting a bumpersticker on your vehicle, would be all that was required to make the average citizen a "political prisoner" in the clearest sense of those words. - ST

Glad to see it's still being circulated. All public land in America was meant to be a free speech zone by the framers of our Constitution. Time to remind the people of their history. Pass it on.

[hat tip Jason]