Cindy Deserved The Apology

It pains me to write this, but, fair is fair, and Cindy Sheehan deserved the apology for her removal from the Gallery, as did the wife of Congressman Bill Young (R-Fl).

“The officers made a good faith, but mistaken effort to enforce an old unwritten interpretation of the prohibitions about demonstrating in the Capitol,” Capitol Police Chief Terrance Gainer said in a statement late Wednesday.

“The policy and procedures were too vague,” he added. “The failure to adequately prepare the officers is mine.”

Actually, Chief, the faul is that of Congress. Michelle Malkin links to a comment over Patterico’s:

TITLE 40 – PUBLIC BUILDINGS, PROPERTY, AND WORKS SUBTITLE II – PUBLIC BUILDINGS AND WORKS PART B – UNITED STATES CAPITOL CHAPTER 51 – UNITED STATES CAPITOL BUILDINGS AND GROUNDS

Sec. 5104. Unlawful activities

(2) Violent entry and disorderly conduct. – An individual or group of individuals may not willfully and knowingly

(C) with the intent to disrupt the orderly conduct of official business, enter or remain in a room in any of the Capitol Buildings set aside or designated for the use of either House of Congress or a Member, committee, officer, or employee of Congress or either House of Congress;

(D) utter loud, threatening, or abusive language, or engage in disorderly or disruptive conduct, at any place in the Grounds or in any of the Capitol Buildings with the intent to impede, disrupt, or disturb the orderly conduct of a session of Congress or either House of Congress, or the orderly conduct in that building of a hearing before, or any deliberations of, a committee of Congress or either House of Congress

(G) parade, demonstrate, or picket in any of the Capitol Buildings.

Source url: http://uscode.house.gov/download/pls/40C51.txt

Note also, that displays are covered in some more detail with this language later:
(2) display in the Grounds a flag, banner, or device designed or adapted to bring into public notice a party, organization, or movement.

Now, that might not be what the law the two were ejected over, however, unless the law was D.C. ordinance, it was un-Constitutional to start with

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

As long as they were peaceful, there is no way in my mind that anyone should be restricted from attending even a State Of The Union wearing a T-shirt. Personally, I am rather restrictive on "speech," but wearing a T-shirt with a message, even one like what Cindy was wearing, is free speech.

That’s my 1 1/2 cents. Let the Surrender Monkeys continue losing it over at the DU and other Lefty sites for a much longer time.

However, wearing a t-shirt to a SOTU, no matter what it says, is rather gouche.

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One Response to “Cindy Deserved The Apology”

  1. Wimps!

    This woman has stalked the President for over a year. She sat outside his Texas ranch for months. Then, when he came back to Washington she attempted to chain herself to the Whitehouse fence. She would have been arrested and put in jail for stalking a …

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