FOR RELEASE:  February 6, 2012

CONTACT:
Dan Meek
dan@meek.net
503-293-9021

Daniel Meek, an attorney representing the Oregon Progressive Party, today testified at the Oregon Legislature against a bill to criminalize using any form of "electronic communication" to organize or join in any protest constituting civil disobedience.

"This is the kind of law you might find in Myanmar or Turkmenistan or North Korea or Zimbabwe, but not in Oregon," said Meek.  Several persons associated with the Occupy movement also testified against the bill.

SB 1534, with 12 Senators co-sponsoring (only 16 votes are needed to pass the Senate), would make it a Class C felony for anyone to send an email (or a tweet or text or blog post) "with the intent of causing two or more other persons to engage in specific conduct constituting a crime" that itself is only a misdemeanor.  A Class C felony is punishable by a fine of up to $125,000 and a prison term of 5 years.  A misdemeanor, such as disorderly conduct or failing to disperse when ordered or making an unreasonable noise, is punishable by $2,500 fine and 6 months in jail.  So SB 1534 makes sending the email a far more serious crime than the misdemeanor being suggested in the message.   Read more ...

Say you are watching TV and see that there is a protest going on downtown and that the protesters are not obeying police orders to disperse.  Say you email 2 friends and say, "Let's go down there and join the crowd."  Under SB 1534, that would be a felony punishable to a fine of up to $125,000 and 5 years in prison.

There are hundreds of different types of misdemeanors in Oregon, some under state law and others under municipal law.  Here is a short list of some state law misdemeanors that could land a person in jail for 5 years, under SB 1534:

• Making an unreasonable noise;
• Obstructing vehicular or pedestrian traffic on a public way;
• Congregating with other persons in a public place and refuses to comply with a lawful order of the police to disperse;
• Abusing a "venerated object," meaning "a public monument or structure, a place of worship, or the national or state flag;" or
• Knowingly entering or remaining unlawfully in or on a public transit vehicle or public transit station.

Also, since the bill would make sending email or tweeting or texting or blogging a crime, it would enable the police to subpoena the records of ISPs, Twitter, Facebook, and phone companies in investigating this new "felony."

Although SB 1534 is probably a violation of freedom of speech, it may take years to establish that.  In the meantime, this bill, if enacted, could send mere protestors to prison for very long terms.

The chief sponsor of the bill, Senator Whitsett, claimed its purpose is to help stop use of the internet to organize robberies at banks or stores.  But such robberies are not misdemeanors.  So why does the bill make it a felony to send an electronic communication that suggests a misdemeanor, such as engaging in civil disobedience?