ACLU fights for free speech – Record Delta

BUCKHANNON Dissent is patriotic.

Thats the message the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia delivered to a small crowd gathered in Wesley Chapel on the campus of West Virginia Wesleyan College Sunday night.

Joseph Cohen said the United States is at a watershed moment when it comes to being patriotic via social activism and various protest movements across the country.

Were right now in the midst of this explosion of social activism and its maybe unparalleled in American history, Cohen said, referring to the many protests organized throughout the United States, including those put on in opposition to President Donald Trumps so-called Muslim ban and the Womens March on Washington.

Theres so many people who are getting actively engaged in protest movements, and its really people who have woken up to this that need to make their voice heard people who have never been involved in protest activities, people who have never been involved in mass movements, are taking to the streets in incredible numbers, and we think thats beautiful at the ACLU, Cohen said.

We love when people exercise their right to freedom of speech, we love when people exercise their right to freedom of assembly, we love when people exercise their right of freedom of association, he continued. In our opinion, theres nothing more American than dissent than telling your government why theyre wrong, why they screwed up, why you disagree with them. That is the very basis of our whole democratic system.

Cohen began his presentation by reviewing the history and purpose of the ACLU of W.Va. The ACLU is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization whose mission is to protect and expand civil liberties for West Virginians; its an affiliate of the national ACLU, which has been in the news quite frequently lately.

A major focus of our work is to extend civil liberties to those who are traditionally denied those protections, and that particular part of our mission seems more relevant today than maybe in our countrys history, Cohen said. We accomplish our goals through litigation that is, suing the government lobbying, grassroots organization and education.

Cohen said the ACLU has been in operation in the Mountain State since 1920, and its first case here was representing coal miners who were imprisoned for organizing labor unions. He went on to note that although the ACLU isnt typically thought of as a nonpartisan organization, it has sued every presidential administration.

Weve sued Barack Obama many, many times, and weve sued Donald Trump many, many times already, and Im sure were going to be suing him a lot more, Cohen said. Theres this massive increase in First Amendment activity around the country and in West Virginia, and this has not happened before in this state. With all the other crazy things that are going on the attacks on Muslims, the attacks on immigrants, the attacks on women and all the other groups that are being targeted weve nationally and in West Virginia made one of our top priorities ensuring that peoples free speech rights are honored, so you or anybody else involved in protest activity where you think you might have encounters with police are protected.

Cohen said protecting peoples First Amendment rights is especially important in rural areas like West Virginia, where police dont have as much experience handling protesters and rallies.

Its one thing when its at the Capitol grounds, because there are protests all the time and the police kind of know what they shouldnt be doing, Cohen said. But especially when state police get involved, thats when the problems happen, because theyre just not used to dealing with protesters.

Cohen said although the ACLU is an anti-racist, civil rights organization, it has a responsibility to protect all speech, regardless of whether its officials philosophically agree with that speech or not.

We protect all speech, he said. Speech that we agree with is not usually prohibited by the government, but speech we disagree with frequently prohibited, ugly speech, speech that we find reprehensible as individuals and as an organization. And we dont make those distinctions if the government tries to infringe upon someones constitutional protected right to speech or to assemble, we will fight it, and it does not matter who it is that includes the (Ku Klux) Klan, that includes the Nazi party.

Although free speech is protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution as well as freedom of religion, freedom of the press and freedom to peacefully assemble civil disobedience is not protected. Civil disobedience includes nonviolent, unlawful action as a form of protest. Cohen said classic civil disobedience is a refusal to follow laws that one feels are unjust or immoral, Rosa Parks being the most famous example.

She refused to give up her seat to a white person, but at the time, that was unlawful, Cohen said, adding that those who engage in civil disobedience should expect to be arrested and sometimes even want to be arrested to draw attention to the cause.

Cohen said two movements that have led up to the peak in protest activity currently going on are the Black Lives Matter movement in response to the killing of Trayvon Martin in 2013 as well as the 2016 protest in North Dakota against the Dakota Access Pipeline.

Its continuing to grow this mass increase in protest activity, Cohen said. I believe this is another watershed moment. The Womens March in Washington, D.C. several weeks ago drew over 3 million people who took part in the protest that day. It was the largest single protest in American history; more than 1 percent of Americans took part in that.

Cohen said since the election of President Donald Trump and his inauguration, the ACLU has seen a significant spike in activism.

Within 24 hours of Donald Trump signing his unconstitutional and outrageous so-called Muslim ban executive order, tens of thousands of people descended on airports all over the country chanting, Let them in! Let them in!, Cohen said. At the same time, the ACLU was filing lawsuits and we were winning. These people were going to shut down the airports.

Shutting down the airports essentially shuts down the entire U.S. economy, Cohen said.

That is power right there, he added.

Cohen offered a few lessons for those who wish to stage a successful protest organize, create powerful imagery, be prepared to sacrifice and stand your ground, the last being probably the most important.

Nothing scares power more than a refusal to move, Cohen said. We all take up space because were all made of atoms, we all take up mass. If you literally refuse to move, theyre going to pay attention to you at some point.

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