Organizers of the upcoming “No Kings” rally in Helena say that a new state rule banning permits for weekend rallies on the Capitol grounds violates their First Amendment rights. State officials countered that the new rule, quietly instituted just last month, was intended to save money.
The update to permitting guidelines on the Montana.gov site, which has not been previously reported, states that public events requiring a permit “may only occur on weekdays and between the hours of 7 a.m. and 6 p.m., excluding holidays.”
The revisions apply to all state-owned or leased spaces or grounds at the Capitol Complex. The policy requires a permit for any public event that uses “state resources, requires setup of any structures, materials, displays, or requires clean-up.” A public event is defined as “any event that is open to the public and to which the public will have full access.”
So far all they’ve been is parades
We will not have change without enough people realzing that enough other people are willing to stand up for that change.
Online discussion is the foundation for protests, and protests are the foundation for change. We need to build on those. They are useful for those reasons, but people are correct that they themselves will not effect the change we need.