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Drop the Charges Against Robert Norse and Robert Farcer!

by League for a Revolutionary Workers' Party
Drop the Charges Against Robert Norse and Robert Farcer!

No Illusions in The Capitalist Courts!

Statement of the League for a Revolutionary Workers' Party (LRWP)
Drop the Charges Against Robert Norse and Robert Farcer!

No Illusions in The Capitalist Courts!

Statement of the League for a Revolutionary Workers' Party (LRWP)

Today Robert Norse and Robert Farcer go on trial for singing songs downtown Santa Cruz that informed of the high number of homeless deaths in Santa Cruz and the presence of police laws that ban sleep and covering-up with blankets, laws that have caused deaths.

The fact that they are going on trial for this is yet another violation of First Amendment rights to free speech by the Santa Cruz City Council. This same city government lost a lawsuit in Federal Court for arresting, beating, and jailing for three days activist Steven Argue, with Federal Judge Ware ruling that what had been done by the police was not only a violation of First Amendment rights, but the way the city was trying to defend itself showed that it is city policy to violate those rights.

Under this system, on extremely rare occasions, we can win victories from one or more of these representatives of the capitalist class and we can celebrate those rare victories that are usually due to public pressure and publicity. Steven Argue's case in Federal court was one of those victories. But we see that as a victory won by these activists who fought back by making it a civil case and by bringing publicity to the case. In addition, the fact that cops are very rarely prosecuted for their crimes in these cases, nor are they even fired, and more often promoted, we should understand that although a civil case was won, the root causes of that crime remained. And while the tax payers were made to pay for police crimes, similar crimes continued.

Despite past victories against the Santa Cruz City Council for free speech rights, this current case shows a continuation of the same attitudes and methods in the city council's attempts to silence criticism. This case should have never gone to trial and, instead, all responsible for this act, from the police to the government that gave the orders, should themselves go to trial for this basic violation of rights.

The LRWP also does not hail the fact that Norse and Farcer are getting their day in court. This should have been thrown out of court from the very first day. And while we support the legal efforts of Robert Norse and Robert Farcer in defending themselves, we have no illusions in the possibility of a fair trial in America's capitalist courts. It is public pressure on the courts that usually brings justice on those rare occasions that working class and poor people get it in America.

Prosecutors are government attorneys who represent the case of the capitalist state against the defendant in a criminal prosecution. It is they who actively sweep the misconduct of the police under the rug and don't prosecute cops for their crimes while at the same time prosecuting victims of police repression, violence, racism, or other police misconduct.

Judges are also representatives of the same capitalist government who carry out the same sorts of crimes as prosecutors, but they do it while hiding behind a facade of fake impartiality.

Cops are violent and cynical representatives of the capitalist system who, in a chain of command, follow the orders of the mayor or city council. The mayor or city council, in turn, are elected with the money of the capitalist and petty bourgeois classes. They are also elected on the basis of what kind of coverage they get in the capitalist owned press. These politicians have cops that are violent and repressive against the left, the poor, people of color, and the working class in general because that is the kind of cop that represents the interests of the classes that put them in office.

Defend Free Speech Rights! Drop the Charges Against Robert Norse and Robert Farcer! End the Anti-Homeless Laws of Santa Cruz!

Liberation News
https://lists.riseup.net/www/info/liberation_news
§RE Robert Facer
by LRWP
Sorry to Robert Facer for the misspelling of his name.
§Update: Today’s Trial and Continuation Thursday
by LRWP
This farce of a trial was not completed today and will resume on Thursday, September 9th.

Prosecuting the case for the Santa Cruz City Council is the City Attorney’s Office.

Despite the total absurdity of the trial, motions to dismiss the case on constitutional grounds were thrown out by the judge.

The officer who issued the tickets said that the tickets were not based on her judgement of the situation. The initial complaint was said by this arresting officer to be from a night shift worker who sleeps during the day in an apartment above busy Pacific Avenue and the Bookshop Santa Cruz. That man’s opinion of this day-time singing being too loud and interfering with his sleep was the ONLY evidence of a “crime” presented by the prosecution.

The judge also refused to allow the defense to ask the police officer who issued the tickets whether she thought there was an unreasonable amount of “noise” from the defendants, even though she was an eye-witness to this supposed noise crime.

Supposedly, any citizen has the right to file a complaint against another and the police are required to act on it. In Santa Cruz this is only true if the police get the complaint from someone upset by leftist protesters or the houseless poor. Complaints by leftists are never followed-up on.

Since First Amendment protest activities can be prosecuted solely on the subjective opinion of one observer, the Fist Amendment has once again been thrown out the window by the Santa Cruz City Council. Despite the Santa Cruz City Council’s pretensions of being progressive, they remain in the vanguard of attempting to strip American citizens of our free speech rights.

People are encouraged to show-up in court on Thursday to show your support for free speech rights.

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DATE
Graveyard Giganticus
Tue, Sep 7, 2010 6:29PM
Amazon Giganticus
Tue, Sep 7, 2010 6:04PM
John Thielking
Tue, Sep 7, 2010 2:43PM
The exxageration
Mon, Sep 6, 2010 2:06PM
you have the right
Mon, Sep 6, 2010 12:52PM
The exxageration
Mon, Sep 6, 2010 11:09AM
Reef
Mon, Sep 6, 2010 9:06AM
Austin Powers
Sun, Sep 5, 2010 10:22PM
Steven Argue
Sun, Sep 5, 2010 12:29PM
Graveyard Worker
Sun, Sep 5, 2010 4:52AM
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