"Civil disobedience is a symbolic non-violent violation of the law.... The act must be nonviolent, open and visible, illegal, performed for the moral purpose of protesting an injustice, and done with the expectation of being punished."
Madison Mayor Paul Soglin instructs, explaining the arrests of the high school students who, protesting the police shooting of Tony Robinson, may have resisted police efforts to relocate them from the street to the sidewalk.
"In the future, while all of these protests are evaluated on a case-by-case basis, MPD will not be facilitating extended street closures."
In the past, the police have facilitated protests that took over the street. During the big protests of 2011, we saw police cars blocking the streets so cars could not get through. We've had it personally explained to us by a police officer that redirecting the cars was considered the best approach.
I don't know what the precise policy is, but I note the word "extended" in the mayor's statement. I guess the police will facilitate your street-blocking protest in Madison, but not for too long. I hope it means that where there are marches confined to the sidewalks (or State Street), police ought to stop traffic to let the whole march cross an intersection as a single, densely packed group. But the phrase "on a case-by-case basis" hints of: 1. something that permits flash-mobbish takeovers of the streets, and 2. something that could be applied � consciously or unconsciously � in a way that is not viewpoint neutral.
Statewide, voters will decide whether to re-elect Justice Ann Walsh Bradley to a third 10-year term on the Supreme Court or to elect her challenger, Rock County Circuit Judge James Daley. They will also consider scrapping the 126-year-old practice of having the most senior member of the court serve as chief justice.
�I�m young, there�s no denying that,� Resnick said during an interview at his modest apartment he shares with his wife, Kelly, on the 14th floor of a student-oriented building with views of the Langdon Street neighborhood and Lake Mendota. �I do have a track record of some large accomplishments all under the age of 30.�...
He cites poverty, homelessness, housing, the achievement gap, employment, transportation and the digital divide � barriers to the Internet and technology for low-income residents and neighborhoods � as top issues.
�I am motivated by doing the big projects,� Resnick said. �I�m trying to help others by dreaming big."
I'm opposed to dreaming big, so I guess I've got to go for Soglin again. As for the judges, as I said yesterday, "I hate voting for judges and the whole charade of these campaigns."
"This should be an issue of local control and, in the end, we are seeing Democrats and Republicans gang up on the city as we were unable to act over the course of months."
Said Madison mayoral candidate Scott Resnick, about a new and bipartisan bill in the Wisconsin legislature that would authorize companies like Uber to operate throughout the state and block local legislation imposing various limitations of the sort Resnick and his opponent Mayor Paul Soglin have been showing enthusiasm for in their campaigns. Soglin said:
"The point is, Uber has got a lot of muscle, they�ve got a lot of money, they have a lot of influence, they�ve done this around the rest of the country, and they have absolutely the best, most vulnerable legislature in the country in Wisconsin to use their campaign dollars to get the legislation they want which is not in the best interest of the riding public. The public needs essential cab service every day of the year, every hour of the day.�
"Thursday night's mayoral debate between incumbent Paul Soglin and challenger Scott Resnick was marked by sharp hostility -- both between the candidates, and the candidates and the crowd," Isthmus reports.
When Resnick said "We need to come together in this community," there was laughter.
Soglin tried: "I find it very, very difficult to address this subject in the context of a mayoral debate, of the context of some of the anger in this room.... The larger concern in the community, where parents are concerned about well-being of children, we're all concerned about our neighbors."
The crowd shouted him down � "What about Tony?" � and Soglin sat down without finishing.
I don't know who to vote for in the mayoral election. How does one decide between Resnick and Soglin? Some people are deciding based on their different positions on � of all things � Uber, as Larry Kaufmann explains here:
Leading the charge is Mayor Paul Soglin, who treats Uber as if it were the spawn of Satan, or at least the Koch brothers. The Paul Soglin for Mayor website describes Uber as a "company headed by a devotee of Ayn Rand" that makes "conscious decisions to destroy full-time jobs." The mayor likens Uber to a "new form of serfdom," which might be accurate if medieval serfs used smartphone apps and complex, back-end routing algorithms to find rides to their masters' fields.
His mayoral challenger, Scott Resnick, takes a different view. The first item on his campaign's site declares that Uber, Lfyt and other ridesharing firms "are here and they are not going away." Resnick believes cutting-edge ridesharing technology can help "devise innovative solutions that meet our city's transportation needs." Nevertheless, he wishes to load a number of regulations onto Uber and similar firms that currently apply to taxis, including licensing by the city, background checks on drivers, insurance requirements and restrictions on "surge" pricing during high-demand times.
Keep Uber out or let it in but regulate the hell out of it. That's the choice in Madison, Wisconsin. I'm thinking of protest-voting, writing in the name Mike Koval.
ADDED: From the video clip at the link: "The crowd has been growing over the past couple of hours. Members from the Young Black and Gifted Coalition are forming a line out here, demanding justice. Though the shooting happened several hours ago, police here on scene have not spoken to the public."
AND: At 1:50 in the video, there's an interview with Madison Mayor Paul Soglin, and you can hear, in the background, that the crowd is chanting "No justice, no peace."
MORE: Discussion at Isthmus: "It's getting a little nutty on Willy St right now. Trying to make this the next Ferguson from some tweets I'm seeing. Good grief." And:
I was in the area and heard a few different things. "Young black male acting a bit crazy." "Attacked a Burrito Drive delivery person, then attacked a couple in their house, and was rolling around on the ground." "attacked a cop."
19 year old Tony Robinson-RIP.
ALSO: Mayor Soglin says that he can't get any information from the Madison police because "under the new laws they're not allowed to conduct the investigation." From the first-linked article:
Rep. Chris Taylor, who happened to be in the area at the time of the shooting, worked successfully for legislation last year that would require an independent agency to investigate when there is an officer-involved shooting.
"Obviously we've had our share of tragedies in this community, so it's a scary thing when you're in a situation like that, which I never expected to be in tonight, I have to say," she said.
Protesters gathered on the scene Friday night. The Young, Gifted and Black Coalition will host a strategy session at 10:30 a.m. in Madison. Members will meet at the YWCA on Latham Drive.
And I'm just noticing, in my quote at "ADDED," that the reporter said that the people in the street were "forming a line out here, demanding justice," but the chant, which you can hear is "No justice, no peace." That's more than a demand for justice. That's a threat of civil disorder.
AND: The reporter calls the group "the Young Black and Gifted Coalition," but � as those familiar with the Lorraine Hansberry book title should suspect � it's the Young, Gifted and Black Coalition.
AND: Speaking through a bullhorn that has a "Socialist Worker" sticker on it, a woman addresses a crowd: "I want you to take this opportunity to understand and connect with [the family's] hearts. A black teenager, a black boy, was viciously killed and murdered by Madison Police Department." She also says that if things don't change, "then we will have a Ferguson in Madison." Someone in the crowd cries "We do have a Ferguson in Madison." After the first minute in the video there is some NSFW language.)
UPDATE: In the "Saturday caf�" post, someone says:
"Please delve into this shooting in Madison and with Meade give us factual details, interviews and pictures of what is the real story. Use your background to breakdown the legal details for us layman."
I responded:
I don't know anything about it at this point. I'll read the news reports.
We drove by the scene of the shooting today. Should I be "drive-by media"?
If so, all I can say is that there was police tape in front of a house, and there were police cars along the curb and a few police officers standing around. Across the street there were 3 or 4 sad-looking people sitting on the step of a porch, but no one was standing around or chanting or heckling the police officers. There was one woman walking toward downtown, carrying a "Black Lives Matter" sign.
Things looked very quiet. There was no evidence of anyone attempting to maintain protest energy around the site.
