The Constitution says quite plainly that people shall have the right to assemble peaceably to protest whatever they choose. That right has been denied in Birmingham, Alabama. Ipso facto, the conclusion-jumpers rule, the authorities in Alabama are guilty.
But the question is prudential. The right to peaceable assembly does not rank above the need for public order. Two years ago George Lincoln Rockwell and his Nazi cretins advised the authorities in New York City that they intended to demonstrate on the first of May. Mayor Wagner, anticipating chaos, forbade them a license. He did not question that it was the Nazis’ intention to demonstrate peaceably. He doubted rather that the community would permit them to do so. His ban holds to this day; and is sanctioned by the majority of sober New Yorkers, who very well know that if a bunch of Jew-eating maniacs parade around New York, somebody is going to get hurt.
Comments