ACLU delivers 50,000 drop J20 petitions to US attys office

On the 11th of December, the ACLU and several other groups delivered 50,000 signed petitions to the US Attorney's office at 555 4th st demanding that all charges from the Inauguration protests be dropped. The petitions more generally demand that the US attorney's office stop criminalizing dissent. None of the six defendents whose trials continue this week are alleged to have committed any individualized unlawful acts, only collective guilt for the acts of others.

If even one defendent goes to prison on a conviction for being on the same block as somebody else allegedly breaking a window, that is a sea change in US law for ALL protesters, all of the time. The ACLU and similar groups warn that convictions would mean every participant in every protest will risk spending the rest of their life in prison of anyone (even an infiltrator or police provocatuer) does anything illegal. This brings back the old adage that if protest is outlawed, only outlaws can protest. Much of the world already works that way, it seems that Jeff Sessions and Donald Trump want to join that club.