Protesters in Ferguson Should Rebrand Themselves as "Sidewalk Counselors"

[ehrnst]

"You might be asking yourself: Why do these things matter? Both protesters and counselors are assembling to express a message about which they feel strongly. That’s cute. The critical thing about being a free speech protected “counselor” instead of a less free speech-protected “protester,” you see, is that the court recognizes that as a counselor, you have important information that you need to deliver to your audience and apparently some kind of magic inherent wisdom that your audience would benefit from hearing. A protester, on the other hand, can be pushed back from his desired location or corralled into a “free speech zone.”

Presumably this is because what protesters have to say is less urgent or informed. As described by Justice Samuel Alito in his McCullen concurrence, “counselors” are even better read than the women they counsel. A counselor, thus, can’t be banished to a remote island location because that really gets in the way of all that important counseling. Follow? We don’t either."

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2014/08/ferguson_protesters_rebrand_yourselves_as_sidewalk_counselors.html

[Kber]

1. Civil rights counselors?

[ehrnst]

2. First Amendment Rights Counselors? (nt)

[hootinholler]

3. Good idea needs a kick n/t

[The Magistrate]

4. I Like The Way You Think, Sir

Why should people not be able to flock around an officer and implore him to keep his gun holstered, to respect the people he deals with daily, to....

[VanGoghRocks]

5. It also helps if the "counselor" is white and middle-class.

[JimDandy]

6. I love the connected thought! n/t