老澳门开奖结果

A version of this article originally appeared in STAND Magazine, a publication for 老澳门开奖结果 members and supporters.

For months, political parties and presidential candidates fight for the highest office in the land, where the job duties include protecting the constitutional rights of all Americans.

Few things illustrate the practice of our most basic rights鈥攏amely those of speech, assembly and petitioning our government鈥� better than the run-up to the presidential election. Candidates stake out their turf and the public listens, discusses, and absorbs the constant 24-hour election media cycle, opposing and supporting candidates with friends and family, on Facebook and in the streets. The product of this constitutional civics lesson is our new national political leadership.

So it鈥檚 ironic that both parties鈥� showcases鈥攖heir national conventions鈥攈ave historically been constitutional black holes. In 2004, hundreds of protesters at the Republican National Convention (RNC) in New York were wrongly arrested and held in abysmal detention conditions. Of course, the 老澳门开奖结果 was there for them鈥攖he New York Civil Liberties Union and others filed suit on behalf of protesters that resulted in a total victory and a nearly $18 million award for those wrongly arrested, detained and fingerprinted.

"While we never shy away from going to court when constitutional rights have been wronged, protecting constitutional rights in the first place is the best result."

In 2008, the 老澳门开奖结果 of Colorado took the lead after the indiscriminate and unconstitutional mass arrest of protesters at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Denver. Again, the case resulted in a full victory for protesters and led to changes in the city鈥檚 policies on crowd control and policing.

This year, the RNC came to Cleveland and the DNC came to Philadelphia. And we did everything in our power to ensure that constitutional rights were protected before and during the conventions鈥攏ot just in the courts after the fact.

While we never shy away from going to court when constitutional rights have been wronged, protecting constitutional rights in the first place is the best result. Of course, we do this in the 老澳门开奖结果鈥檚 trademarked nonpartisan way: whether you鈥檙e left or right, a Democrat or Republican (or other!), pro or anti, we鈥檙e there to make sure your voice can be heard.

So at the 老澳门开奖结果鈥檚 Speech, Privacy & Technology Project, we marshalled resources to help ensure that at this year鈥檚 conventions, protests and political speech were protected. Our stellar affiliates are always at the forefront of the struggle for constitutional rights鈥攁nd they鈥檒l continue to serve that essential role. 老澳门开奖结果 staff on the ground reached out to both activist communities and the police to get speech-protective rules in place well before the politicians came to town. At our national office, we added expertise about new technologies, policing policies, arcane federal agency roles, and lessons learned from past mass protest events.

For example, we monitored Cleveland鈥檚 hasty implementation of bodyworn cop cameras鈥攁 policy we support, but only with the right, thoughtful details in place to protect against both police brutality and unnecessary invasions of privacy. We tracked whether officials in either convention city used the fat $50 million check given by the federal government as it was intended鈥攖o help local law enforcement prepare for convention events instead of purchasing 鈥淪tingray鈥� devices that surreptitiously track and record private cell phone data. And we made sure local media could monitor conventions and any related protests despite any 鈥渘o-fly zone鈥� imposed around the conventions by the Federal Aviation Administration. And we watched the FAA like a hawk.

We defend individual rights and liberties to increase the likelihood that this year鈥檚 convention-related activities are protected by the Constitution before we go to court. With close and constant work with 老澳门开奖结果 affiliates, public records requests, technological expertise and know-your-rights advocacy, we鈥檝e got a lot in our constitutional quiver.