Fight Against No-Speech Zones

The message:

The right to protest is under severe attack across the country. The President is engaged in an aggressive a campaign of retaliation and retribution against his critics and has unleashed ICE agents to act with “absolute immunity” against anyone who protests their actions. As the horrific killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti show, the results can be deadly.

Unfortunately, New York is not immune to efforts that would stifle free speech. Some state and local officials are proposing legislation that would create buffer zones around houses of worship.

Take Action:

ADD MY NAME: Tell New York politicians to say no to this assault on our rights to free speech and protest.

The recipients:

Governor Hochul, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Assembly Speaker Carl E. Heastie, your Legislative representatives

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Your Message

Subject

Message

The right to protest is under severe attack across the country. The Trump administration has unleashed ICE agents and told them they can act with “absolute immunity” against anyone who protests their actions. As the horrific killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti show, the results can be deadly.

Unfortunately, New York is not immune to efforts that would stifle free speech. Some state and local officials are proposing legislation that would create buffer zones around houses of worship.

I’m writing to tell you to say no to this assault on our rights to free speech and protest.

State and local lawmakers are weighing putting no speech zones around the entrances and exits of every house of worship. You should not be part of the effort to outlaw protest on countless blocks – and even whole neighborhoods – across the state.

It is difficult to exaggerate the impact these legally dubious proposals could have on protest. If the state proposals had been enacted during the Black Lives Matter demonstrations in 2020, they could have prevented marches from taking place, severely limiting the size, scope, and impact of the movement. As hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers take to the street to demand Hands Off New York, their protests routinely come within the proposed no speech zones.

Our laws must protect religious freedom and that includes protecting New Yorkers’ ability to come and go to houses of worship. But New York law already protects people from obstruction, intimidation, interference, violence or threatening behavior when entering or leaving a house of worship. Those laws are enough. Any additional laws will contribute to the already hostile attitudes toward free speech now polluting our national dialogue.

For government restrictions on protest – including buffer zones – to even have a chance of passing legal muster, there must be a lengthy, documented history of people facing intimidation, harassment, or violence. This history does not exist for houses of worship.

If there have been failures to enforce our laws that protect speech, religion, and other rights including access to abortion, the solution is meaningful enforcement, not new laws.

Sincerely,

[First Name] [Last Name]

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Fight Against No-Speech Zones

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