UPDATE ON CHARGES AGAINST THE BROWN BERETS BY THE WPD FOR PEACEFUL MARCH

This is unreasonable!! If the police aren't there to protect people -- including people exercising their freedom of speech -- then what are they there for? Just because you are a large group doesn't mean that you should be charged more!

Do the police charge Target extra when they have to make an appearance there? Or the hospital, which regularly has police assistance?

This is unconstitutional. Please fight this these fines. If you give a location for a protest (Watsonville City Council??) and a date and time, people will come.

while i understand the importance of choosing our battles wisely, i feel that resisting that OUTRAGEOUS fine is an important part of the current struggle. this is setting a precedent: raise your voice in watsonville, refuse to be invisible, get a fatty fine that most folks cannot pay. it deserves to be fought and i think there'd be tons of support.

Look folks, if you organize and event, and don’t go through the proper channels with the local government, you are held responsible for what goes on at the event. They should have gotten a permit like everyone else before they organized the event.

hey oscar g, have you ever read the constitution? i doubt it. people in america are guarenteed these things called freedom of speech and freedom of assembly. i dont think the brown berets are trying to avoid taking responsability, given the protest was entirely peaceful with no arrests/citations aside from the one given to an organizer of the event for having it at all. the watsonville pd was totally out of line and infringed on their constitutional rights to free assembly (not that the police care about your rights).

Ok ‘solidarity’, here is a lesson in civics for you. No one is saying they did not have a right to march. They are saying that EVERY group has to go through the proper channels to get authorization to use city property (ie. streets) that belong to ALL of us, not just those protesting. I know that this common courtesy to those around you and respect for the rule of law are beyond your comprehension, but that is how it works in the grown up world.

Though I am glad the charges have been dropped, I'm sorry to see the brown berets agree to pay the fine for exercising your right to free assembly. It is unlikely the charges would be upheld if you choose to fight it. In fact, it is quite likely knowing that the courts are not on their side, that the police would have dropped the fine before it went to trial.

A lost opportunity to assert our right to assembly and free speech.

Actually, the courts have upheld again and again in different states and municipalities that requiring citizens get a permit to exercise their free speech and assembly rights chills first amendment rights and is therefore unconstitutional. So Oscar G, you are wrong about proper channels.

You don’t need a permit to exercise your free speech rights or your right to assembly. But you do not have a right to infringe upon others. When you block streets and so forth, you have done just that. If you want to have an event block a road for an hour or so, get it authorized like everyone else.

The terminology is specific to parade, but it stands for all events that require people marching down the street.

5-12.02 Permits required.
No person shall engage in, participate in, aid, form, or start any parade, unless a parade permit shall have been first issued by the Chief of Police.
Exceptions. This chapter shall not apply to funeral processions.
(§ 2, Ord. 542-82 C-M, eff. February 25, 1982)


5-12.03 Permits: Applications.
A person seeking the issuance of a parade permit shall file an application with the Chief of Police on a form provided by such officer.
(a) Filing period. An application for a parade permit shall be filed with the Chief of Police not less than thirty (30) days nor more than sixty (60) days before the date on which it is proposed to conduct the parade.
(b) Contents. The application for a parade permit shall set forth the following information:
(1) The name, address, and telephone number of the person seeking to conduct such parade;
(2) If the parade is proposed to be conducted for, on behalf of, or by an organization, the name, address, and telephone number of the headquarters of the organization and of the authorized and responsible heads of such organization;
(3) The name, address, and telephone number of the person who will be the parade chairman and who will be responsible for its conduct;
(4) The date when the parade is to be conducted;
(5) The route to be traveled, the starting point, and the termination point;
(6) The approximate number of persons who, and animals and vehicles which, will constitute such parade; the type of animals; and a description of the vehicles;
(7) The hours when such parade will start and terminate;
(8) A statement as to whether the parade will occupy all or only a portion of the width of the streets proposed to be traversed;
(9) The location by streets of any assembly area for such parade;
(10) The time at which units of the parade will begin to assemble at any such assembly area or areas;
(11) If the parade is designed to be held by, and on behalf of, or for any person other than the applicant, the applicant for such permit shall file with the Chief of Police a communication in writing from the person proposing to hold the parade authorizing the applicant to apply for the permit on his behalf;
(12) The application shall have attached either a certificate of insurance or a letter binder from an insurance company or insurance agent setting forth that the City is named as additional insured in a policy of liability insurance to be carried by the applicant upon the issuance of a parade permit to cover the permit term in an amount not less than that amount fixed by resolution of the Council; and
(13) Any additional information which the Chief of Police shall find reasonably necessary to make a fair determination as to whether a permit should issue.
(c) Late applications. The Chief of Police, where good cause is shown therefor, shall have the authority to process any application under this chapter which is filed before the date such parade is proposed to be conducted.
(§ 2, Ord. 542-82 C-M, eff. February 25, 1982)

5-12.04 Permits: Standards for issuance.
A parade permit shall be authorized and be issued as provided for in this chapter when, from a consideration of the application and from such other information as may otherwise be obtained, it is found that:
(a) The conduct of the parade will not substantially interrupt the safe and orderly movement of other traffic contiguous to its route;
(b) The conduct of the parade will not require the diversion of so great a number of police officers of the City to properly police the line of movement and the areas contiguous thereto as to prevent normal police protection to the City;
(c) The conduct of such parade will not require the diversion of so great a number of ambulances as to prevent normal ambulance service to portions of the City other than those to be occupied by the proposed line or march and the areas contiguous thereto;
(d) The concentration of persons, animals, and vehicles at the assembly points of the parade will not unduly interfere with proper fire and police protection of, or ambulance service to, areas contiguous to such assembly areas;
(e) The conduct of such parade will not interfere with the movement of fire-fighting equipment en route to a fire;
(f) The conduct of the parade is not reasonably likely to cause injury to persons or property or to provoke disorderly conduct or create a disturbance;
(g) The parade is scheduled to move from its point of origin to its point of termination expeditiously and without unreasonable delays en route; and
(h) The insurance coverage is in an amount sufficient to meet the requirements of the Council.
(§ 2, Ord. 542-82 C-M, eff. February 25, 1982)


And there you go. If you folks don’t like the Watsonville Municipal code, go out and try to change it.

"Exceptions. This chapter shall not apply to funeral processions."

whoa. suddenly I imagine hundreds of funeral processions, each honoring a soldier killed in Iraq, plodding solemnly through the streets with impunity.