Quote Originally Posted by HoreTore
No.

The armed forces are the power of a state. A state is the one capable of silencing Joe Citizens, and that's the reason for free speech laws. If Joe Citizens somehow manages to silence a state, I'd say good job.
Must go get another cup of coffee. Just found myself in complete agreement with HoreTore....

Now, don't mistake me, I think Berkeley is -- at the least -- out of step with reality. If you are THAT opposed to the will of the larger polis, then it is your duty to secede and establish a different form of government, not to pass ordinances WITHIN the context of that government just to annoy people and call for attention. Government is NOT a protest forum -- it should be listening to protests not enacting them.

That said, these code pinkers have a right to protest as they are, just as the local authorities have a duty to arrest them when they move beyond polite protest and into civil disobedience. King and the others knew that "sitting in" at the restaraunt would get them jailed -- so you must be willing to pay the price if you go beyond simple protest.

@ Kukri:

Did you really get doused that way? How LOATHSOME! I suspect that I, had I been standing there, would have quickly been under arrest for decking and beating senseless the person who could do such a thing. I'd read about such things of course, but a lot of it has been described as "overblown" by some subsequent researchers. Now it would seem that some kind of agenda was driving the "research."