1. United States
2. Ariz.
3. Letter

Legislation being pushed by Rep. Michael Way in HB 2136 to criminalize widely recognized nonviolent civil protest is abhorrent in a democratic republic. That traffic is sometimes impeded or individuals may be inconvenienced is a consequence of living in a society that respects freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and the right to protest. Moreover, it is exactly these kinds of nonviolent demonstrations that produced the necessary and important civil liberties gains achieved in the Civil Rights Movement; any new legislation that would make those gains unachievable is antithetical to American values in the post-Jim Crow era. We have all seen our fellow Americans act in service of their deeply held beliefs, even when we don’t share those beliefs and when those actions inconvenience us. But we all have a duty to protect and preserve our neighbors’ rights. As legislators your duty to do so is encapsulated in your oaths. Oppose any legislation that seeks to restrict Arizonans’ rights to engage in nonviolent protest.