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This is a huge leap in the WRONG direction; Criminalizing Dissent...
Tesnim Zekeria and Rebecca Crosby, Nov 7, 2023
Full Article: https://popular.info/p/criminalizing-dissent
This could set a very dangerous legal precedent against our 1st amendment constitutional right to protest....
"Breathtakingly broad and unprecedented"
Sixty-one activists appeared before Fulton County Court yesterday on racketeering charges related to their protest of Atlanta’s new “Public Safety Training Center,” commonly known as Cop City. The arraignment comes after the Georgia Attorney General’s Office alleged, in September, that defendants were “conspiring” to violate the state’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. If convicted, each “Stop Cop City” activist could face up to 20 years in prison — even those who are alleged to have participated in non-violent protests. Experts worry that it’s the latest tactic by Georgia officials to stifle political dissent.
-snip-
The 109-page RICO indictment lumps together vague allegations of non-violent conduct with more serious charges of violence. The indictment, for example, cites numerous protesters for "trespassing" and “join[ing] an organized mob of individuals designed to overwhelm the police force in an attempt to occupy the DeKalb forest and cause property damage,” describing it as “an overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy.” Notably, the indictment does not allege these specific individuals caused any property damage or overwhelmed the police. But the indictment claims that was their intention. Trespassing is a crime, but not one that typically comes with a 20-year prison sentence. Other acts "in furtherance of the conspiracy" include being reimbursed for camping supplies, kitchen utensils, and glue.
-snip-
"We are extremely concerned by this breathtakingly broad and unprecedented use of state terrorism, anti-racketeering, and money laundering laws against protesters,” Senior Staff Attorney for ACLU’s National Security Project Aamra Ahmad said in the statement. “Georgia law enforcement officials are disproportionately wielding these overbroad laws to stigmatize and target those who disagree with the government.”
Other groups that denounced the indictment include the National Lawyers Guild and the Center for Constitutional Rights, who both argued that the RICO charges were intended to silence protestors. The National Lawyers Guild argued that the indictment is “intended to serve a political end… to silence the protest movement, to prevent it from having access to attorneys, bail support and even legal observation,” stating that the charges were meant “to portray a popular movement as an unlawful conspiracy.” The Center for Constitutional Rights argued that, “[l]ike anti-terrorism statutes, RICO laws, in their vagueness and elasticity, are dangerous weapons in the hands of prosecutors and corporations bent on silencing dissent.”
-snip-
Sixty-one activists appeared before Fulton County Court yesterday on racketeering charges related to their protest of Atlanta’s new “Public Safety Training Center,” commonly known as Cop City. The arraignment comes after the Georgia Attorney General’s Office alleged, in September, that defendants were “conspiring” to violate the state’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. If convicted, each “Stop Cop City” activist could face up to 20 years in prison — even those who are alleged to have participated in non-violent protests. Experts worry that it’s the latest tactic by Georgia officials to stifle political dissent.
-snip-
The 109-page RICO indictment lumps together vague allegations of non-violent conduct with more serious charges of violence. The indictment, for example, cites numerous protesters for "trespassing" and “join[ing] an organized mob of individuals designed to overwhelm the police force in an attempt to occupy the DeKalb forest and cause property damage,” describing it as “an overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy.” Notably, the indictment does not allege these specific individuals caused any property damage or overwhelmed the police. But the indictment claims that was their intention. Trespassing is a crime, but not one that typically comes with a 20-year prison sentence. Other acts "in furtherance of the conspiracy" include being reimbursed for camping supplies, kitchen utensils, and glue.
-snip-
"We are extremely concerned by this breathtakingly broad and unprecedented use of state terrorism, anti-racketeering, and money laundering laws against protesters,” Senior Staff Attorney for ACLU’s National Security Project Aamra Ahmad said in the statement. “Georgia law enforcement officials are disproportionately wielding these overbroad laws to stigmatize and target those who disagree with the government.”
Other groups that denounced the indictment include the National Lawyers Guild and the Center for Constitutional Rights, who both argued that the RICO charges were intended to silence protestors. The National Lawyers Guild argued that the indictment is “intended to serve a political end… to silence the protest movement, to prevent it from having access to attorneys, bail support and even legal observation,” stating that the charges were meant “to portray a popular movement as an unlawful conspiracy.” The Center for Constitutional Rights argued that, “[l]ike anti-terrorism statutes, RICO laws, in their vagueness and elasticity, are dangerous weapons in the hands of prosecutors and corporations bent on silencing dissent.”
-snip-
More at Full Article: https://popular.info/p/criminalizing-dissent
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