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And Now We Are At Approximately 257 Minutes Of Fame

Posted by Pejman Yousefzadeh on Wed Feb 01, 2006 at 11:42:52 AM EST

So as everyone heard, Cindy Sheehan got arrested at the State of the Union address--no doubt, something she was aiming for in order to get additional publicity:

Cindy Sheehan, the mother of a fallen soldier in Iraq who reinvigorated the anti-war movement, was arrested and removed from the House gallery Tuesday night just before President Bush's State of the Union address, a police spokeswoman said.
Sheehan, who was invited to attend the speech by Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D- Calif., was charged with demonstrating in the Capitol building, said Capitol Police Sgt. Kimberly Schneider. The charge was later changed to unlawful conduct, Schneider said. Both charges are misdemeanors.
Sheehan was taken in handcuffs from the Capitol to police headquarters a few blocks away. Her case was processed as Bush spoke.
Schneider said Sheehan had worn a T-shirt with an anti-war slogan to the speech and covered it up until she took her seat. Police warned her that such displays were not allowed, but she did not respond, the spokeswoman said.

We are reminded of a similar occurrence some years back:

In the early days of the Senate's impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton in January 1999, a Pennsylvania man named Dave Delp was removed by the Capitol police from the Senate gallery for wearing a t-shirt that said, "Clinton doesn't inhale, he sucks."
The Pennsylvania school teacher was yanked out of a VIP Senate gallery and briefly detained last week during the impeachment trial for wearing a T-shirt with graphic language dissing President Clinton.
Delp, 42, of Carlisle, Pa., and a friend had just settled into their seats when four Capitol security guards approached them. Delp said at the time that he was ordered to button his coat and follow the guards. Outside the chamber, he was told "several people felt threatened by your shirt."

More analysis from Patterico indicating that the enforcement of the law under which Sheehan was expelled from the House was content-neutral, meaning that there was no censorship on the basis of Sheehan's message. No doubt, some will claim that Sheehan's First Amendment rights were violated, but one hopes that such claims stem only from a misunderstanding regarding First Amendment law and not from a desire to impute fascistic motivations on those doing the censoring. From everything we know regarding the Sheehan expulsion and similar expulsions in the past, there was no abridgement of First Amendment rights at work here.

< The State Of The Union | Yet More Evidence . . . >

And Now We Are At Approximately 257 Minutes Of Fame | 2 comments (2 topical, 0 hidden)

in the same context... (none / 0) (#1)
by rick2g on Wed Feb 01, 2006 at 02:41:23 PM EST

from protein wisdom :

The wife of Rep. C.W. Bill Young, R-Indian Shores, told a newspaper that she was ejected during the State of the Union address for wearing a T-shirt that says, “Support the Troops Defending Our Freedom.” Beverly Young told the St. Petersburg Times that she was sitting in the front row of the House gallery Tuesday night when she was approached by someone who told her she needed to leave.

So, it wasn't just Sheehan. Not that the media will make any mention of it whatsoever. I don't like the idea of such innocuous displays being prohibited, but the Capitol has every right to set dress codes and to enforce decorum inside it's chambers. Only the very irresponsible could claim that it's being enforced unfairly.

A t-shirt? (none / 0) (#2)
by Barbara Skolaut on Fri Feb 03, 2006 at 08:58:22 PM EST

They felt threatened by a t-shirt?

The only way I'd (maybe) feel threatened by a t-shirt is if the shirt were wrapped tightly around my neck. From behind. By someone a LOT larger and stronger.

Wotta buncha wussies.

And Now We Are At Approximately 257 Minutes Of Fame | 2 comments (2 topical, 0 hidden)