There are steps that must be taken to assert your expressive rights and insure that you are granted your full protections.
The US Constitution Protects certain inalienable rights, and of those rights article #1 is freedom of speech/expression. The very first one says that not even the highest of law makers, (congress) shall pass a law that denies anyone of their first amendment rights. The exact words are as follows.
"Amendment I
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."
According to Cornell Law School
"The First Amendment guarantees freedoms concerning religion, expression, assembly, and the right to petition. It forbids Congress from both promoting one religion over others and also restricting an individual’s religious practices. It guarantees freedom of expression by prohibiting Congress from restricting the press or the rights of individuals to speak freely. It also guarantees the right of citizens to assemble peaceably and to petition their government. "
You can learn more about the first amendment from the Cornell law school web site here:
as well as the first amendment
an artist or a busker is also protected by the 14th amendment of the US constitution which reads,
"Amendment XIV
Section 1.
All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."
This clearly mentions that, "no state shall enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of a citizen of the United States."
this basically means that no one can make a law that goes against your rights.
So soliciting laws for example would be against your rights as an artist who is protected to sell their art.
This is key into knowing how to fight for your rights.
this basically means that no one can make a law that goes against your rights.
So soliciting laws for example would be against your rights as an artist who is protected to sell their art.
This is key into knowing how to fight for your rights.
If you do not fight for your rights as an artist or a busker, and you want to give up at the first sign of trouble, then you might as well give up your passion!
If you want to continue your passion, then you must prepare to fight for your rights, you must follow the steps and you must go as far as you possibly can to defend your rights. If you make it all the way to the supreme court and lose your case, then and only then can you say you failed. Then and only then can you give up.
Till then you have steps to take. the supreme is the end all step you can go to defend your first amendment rights. Most of you will never have to go that far.. Most of you if you learn your rights will be able to win in the first couple of steps, and never even have to see the inside of a court room. Some of you will get tickets, and will have to fight them in court. Some of you may actually have cases a lawyer will take and you'll have to go to court to see those cases through, which will result in money for you.
The steps are simple.
If you want to continue your passion, then you must prepare to fight for your rights, you must follow the steps and you must go as far as you possibly can to defend your rights. If you make it all the way to the supreme court and lose your case, then and only then can you say you failed. Then and only then can you give up.
Till then you have steps to take. the supreme is the end all step you can go to defend your first amendment rights. Most of you will never have to go that far.. Most of you if you learn your rights will be able to win in the first couple of steps, and never even have to see the inside of a court room. Some of you will get tickets, and will have to fight them in court. Some of you may actually have cases a lawyer will take and you'll have to go to court to see those cases through, which will result in money for you.
The steps are simple.
1. Go out and perform your skills in the public spaces. Be mindful that you are not blocking traffic or doing anything illegal.. (can't perform dangerous acts without permits and insurance for example) (don't be drunk or on drugs as another example) If the police come toward you, prepare your phone to record, (live feed if possible) and start recording the encounter.....
2. If the police harras you record the encounter and assert your rights, explain why you have rights and where they can go to educate themselves on the matter. Give them court cases that they can read, such as Sparks vs White (if you are an artist) or Magic Mike vs Chicago( for buskers) There is a list of court cases in an earlier blog post where you can learn cases to use to your advantage. Explain you are expressing your first amendment rights and that any action against that would be a violation of the law and their oath of office. Do not resist arrest or assault an officer at any time or any chance of winning your case will be lost right then and there.
3. If they persist, ask for a ticket. if you back down you give up your rights, Don't give up. When you get the ticket, file a report with the local citizens review of police, explain the facts, give them the court cases explaining your rights. Explain how you were observing and expressing your first amendment rights and what you do. Explain the police encounter and how it went. give them your citation number, explain that a violation of your rights could lead to a law suit, if they don't get the ticket dismissed.
4. Step 4 is just like step 3 except instead of writting the citizens review board of police, you are going to do it all over again through the police website and internal affairs. You will file a complaint to internal affairs. If you can not write to an email address there will be a complaint form you can fill out on your local police website, or you can call and talk to an IA officer by phone or file a report in person... remember to, "explain the facts, give them the court cases explaining your rights. Explain how you were observing and expressing your first amendment rights and what you do. Explain the police encounter and how it went. give them your citation number, explain that a violation of your rights could lead to a law suit, if they don't get the ticket dismissed. Be sure to also mention how a violation of your constitutional rights is also a violation of oath of office and if the ticket is not dropped you will file a case against the officer for violation of oath of office.
3. If they persist, ask for a ticket. if you back down you give up your rights, Don't give up. When you get the ticket, file a report with the local citizens review of police, explain the facts, give them the court cases explaining your rights. Explain how you were observing and expressing your first amendment rights and what you do. Explain the police encounter and how it went. give them your citation number, explain that a violation of your rights could lead to a law suit, if they don't get the ticket dismissed.
4. Step 4 is just like step 3 except instead of writting the citizens review board of police, you are going to do it all over again through the police website and internal affairs. You will file a complaint to internal affairs. If you can not write to an email address there will be a complaint form you can fill out on your local police website, or you can call and talk to an IA officer by phone or file a report in person... remember to, "explain the facts, give them the court cases explaining your rights. Explain how you were observing and expressing your first amendment rights and what you do. Explain the police encounter and how it went. give them your citation number, explain that a violation of your rights could lead to a law suit, if they don't get the ticket dismissed. Be sure to also mention how a violation of your constitutional rights is also a violation of oath of office and if the ticket is not dropped you will file a case against the officer for violation of oath of office.
5. call several lawyers (civil rights) call the ACLU, call legal aid... It may take several attempts to find someone who can help you, but since this is a rights violation chances are you can get pro-bono help with this...
Also call and report this to the media... give them all your information, including the court cases provided in the artists and buskers rights blog. The media can sometimes be helpful in these cases and could lead to a good lawyer.
Also call and report this to the media... give them all your information, including the court cases provided in the artists and buskers rights blog. The media can sometimes be helpful in these cases and could lead to a good lawyer.
6. use the information in the blog posts on https://artistandbuskerrights.blogspot.com/ learn all you can and prepare yourself for your case.. find out what the citation is for and learn about the city code that you are being cited for...
you may have to go to the city web site and do a search for municipal code... then enter the code given...
you may have to go to the city web site and do a search for municipal code... then enter the code given...
research what is written, sometimes it maybe so vague that it can be dropped on vagueness alone... often it has first amendment clauses in it... so you can point to those and use your first amendment protections and prove your case with the code they tried to use against you.. for example, ( soliciting, might say. " sales prohibited on the sidewalk with exceptions (a) first amendment sales ok)
either way research is key to winning your case. The more you learn about your citation the better you will be at building a case for yourself.
either way research is key to winning your case. The more you learn about your citation the better you will be at building a case for yourself.
7. Go to court. If it is an infraction you will have to defend yourself... if it is a misdemeanor or more you may have a court appointed attorney.. doing the research for yourself either way will be helpful.. if you provide the court appointed attorney with all the court cases in the blog post he/she will be better able to defend you.. Chances are they do not already know this information so by learning it yourself, and passing the information along you will be helping to educate the public defenders office in your area to help you and any other artist and busker who gets into similar trouble. You might also have acquired a lawyer on your own due to the nature of the case (civil rights issue.) In which case you probably don't need to research more because that lawyer will most likely be confident enough to handle it... Then again you want to win right? Make sure you pass on this knowledge to any attorney you are talking to, they might not be aware of the current situation. So anything you can do to make their job easier will only help you in the long run. Plus the more you learn of this stuff the more empowered you are in defending yourself and your first amendment rights. If you want to do your art in the public what ever form it is, you need to know how to do this stuff. DON'T GIVE UP!
8. Somehow you lost in court. If it was an infraction, appeal, take it to the next court up. Ask for a Jury Trial. If you can not afford the fees and a lawyer, file for financial hardship, and they will give you a public defender. Give the public defender all the information you have given to defend yourself, if you did the correct research, the public defender should get the case dismissed before it ever hits an actual trial.. He/she can file a motion to dismiss based on your constitutional protections. If the case does not get dismissed be prepared to go to trial, in which a jury will hear the case.. chances are they will decide in your favor or dismiss the case... If you lose though you can file an appeal...
9. You once again lost... you must not have been doing the research or your did something wrong that has nothing to do with busking, or your lawyer is not very good... either way you should file an appeal and take it to the next court up.. this will be the district court... you will need a lawyer to take it to this step, though in some states you can defend yourself. This will cost money unless you get a lawyer pro-bono, though you might be able to get financial hardship with this as well... I am not certain... consult a lawyer to know for sure. If you want to bail before it goes this far I can understand.. You put in a valiant effort, lick your wounds and go about your life. If you are a fighter keep going, now you are in law suit territory, anything this cost you, you can sue the city for. If somehow you lose in district court you have a final court you can go to...
10: Supreme court: this is the last line of defense, if you get this far you have to win.. you better have a good lawyer, you better know your stuff, you better have followed all the steps, have video evidence of your police encounter. know everything there is to know about your rights, busking and how the law applies to these things. Have all the evidence in your favor and have not committed any actually crimes while expressing your rights. If you made it this far, you are probably suing the city, and the supreme court is deciding if they are going to give you money or not. Either way you went as far as you can to express your rights, and you used them to the fullest extent of the law.. You should be proud... Win or lose you stood up for your rights, you did the right thing. Kudos to you.
