1. United States
2. Ariz.
3. Letter

I urge you to oppose Senate Bill 1635, which is scheduled for consideration in the Senate Judiciary and Elections Committee. This legislation would criminalize the act of alerting another person to avoid arrest, making it a class 1 misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail. While proponents may frame this as a law enforcement tool, the bill represents an unconstitutional attack on First Amendment protected activity. The bill's language is dangerously broad. Section 13-2515 would criminalize anyone who "knowingly communicates information" to warn of law enforcement presence, including through "signals, amplified sounds, bells, whistles, written messages, and any other method of conveying information." This means a neighbor blowing a whistle to alert their community that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers are present could face criminal prosecution. Monitoring and observing law enforcement activity is constitutionally protected speech, repeatedly affirmed by federal courts. The exemptions in the bill do not cure its constitutional defects. While attorneys and those responding to law enforcement requests are protected, ordinary residents engaging in community defense and mutual aid are not. The bill's requirement to prove "intent to hinder, delay, or prevent" arrest creates a chilling effect on protected speech, as residents will fear criminal liability for simply warning their neighbors. Senator Kavanagh, the bill's sponsor, has a documented history of proposing legislation that targets First Amendment rights, particularly the right to protest. This pattern suggests the bill's true purpose is not public safety but suppression of dissent and community organizing, especially in immigrant communities. I ask you to vote no on SB1635. Our constitutional rights to free speech and to monitor government activity cannot be sacrificed under the guise of supporting law enforcement. Communities have the right to communicate with each other without fear of criminal prosecution.