The Assault on Free Speech, Public Assembly, and Dissent

A National Lawyers Guild Report 11
out why their names are on a “no fly” list intended to stop suspected
terrorists from boarding planes; federal and local authorities in
Denver and Fresno have spied on antiwar demonstrators and
infiltrated planning meetings; and the New York Police Department
questioned many arrestees at demonstrations about their political
affiliations and their opinions on the war in Iraq. In addition, the
government issued subpoenas for the records of the National
Lawyers Guild’s Drake University chapter and to compel antiwar
activists to appear before a grand jury months after they attended a
Guild-sponsored antiwar conference on the university’s campus in
2003.
An overarching consequence of the government’s accelerated
suppression of free expression and its failure to prosecute police
departments for aggressive and unlawful conduct is that individuals
are intimidated from voicing their views. Would-be protesters or
communities frequently targeted by the police, many of whom are
thinking about exercising their First Amendment rights publicly for
the first time, may decide that it is not worth the risk of encountering
police violence and possible arrest. This is particularly true in the
case of individuals who have police records or who have concerns
about their immigration status.