It
is
easy
to
laud
the
importance
of
our
Constitution
when
there
is
no
crisis.
Constitutional
advocacy
really
matters
when
our
foundational
values
are
in
tension
with
state
interest
and
polarizing
effect.
While
I
had
to
try
my
damnedest
to
stay
awake
during
the
dormant
commerce
clause
lectures
1L
year,
I
didn’t
have
that
problem
with
the
protest
modules
because
it
centered
on
what
we
could
and
couldn’t
take
for
granted
during
times
of
unrest.
Given
our
country’s
history,
that’s
about
92%
of
the
time.
And
while
Supreme
Court
cases
can
make
for
a
go-to
litmus
test
of
what
flies
at
a
given
point
in
our
history,
most
of
what
is
actually
happening
on
the
ground
never
makes
it
that
far.
That
said,
this
small
case
coming
out
of
D.C.
could
be
some
history
in
the
making.
Axios
has
coverage:
The
American
Civil
Liberties
Union
filed
the
suit
on
behalf
of
Sam
O’Hara
against
four
Metropolitan
Police
Department
officers
and
a
member
of
the
Ohio
National
Guard
seeking
damages
for
alleged
First
and
Fourth
Amendment
violations,
false
arrest/imprisonment;
battery.
…
[An]
Ohio
guardsman
“was
not
amused
by
this
satire”
and
“threatened
to
call
D.C.
police
officers
to
‘handle’
the
protester
if
he
persisted”
when
the
incident
took
place
on
Sept.
11,
the
ACLU
attorneys
allege
in
their
complaint,
filed
in
the
U.S.
District
Court
of
Colombia.
You
can
see
some
of
the
arrest-worthy
footage
below:
Soon
after
the
camouflaged,
uniformed
man
whined
to
a
blue-uniformed
man
about
the
unwanted
soundtrack,
O’Hara
was
tightly
handcuffed
for
15-20
minutes.
The
degree
and
arbitrariness
of
the
punishment
makes
for
quite
a
small
tyranny,
but
it
is
tyrannical
nonetheless.
Liberty
is
in
danger
the
easier
it
is
to
arrest
citizens
for
what
amounts
to
—
at
worst
—
a
constitutionally
protected
annoyance.
O’Hara
was
obviously
caught
on
camera,
but
is
it
too
far
off
to
imagine
the
police
arresting
someone
without
cause
and
justifying
it
by
saying
they
were
caught
playing
the
“Imperial
March”
or
“F*ck
The
Police”?
What’s
the
point
of
the
First
and
the
Fourth
if
song
selection
is
all
that
stands
between
freedom
and
being
hauled
off
in
handcuffs?
This
could
be
a
great
test
case
to
see
what,
if
anything,
is
left
of
the
First
Amendment.
Let’s
see
how
far
it
goes.
Lawsuit:
D.C.
Man
Detained
For
Playing
“Star
Wars”
Song
At
National
Guard
[Axios]
Chris
Williams
became
a
social
media
manager
and
assistant
editor
for
Above
the
Law
in
June
2021.
Prior
to
joining
the
staff,
he
moonlighted
as
a
minor
Memelord™
in
the
Facebook
group Law
School
Memes
for
Edgy
T14s
.
He
endured
Missouri
long
enough
to
graduate
from
Washington
University
in
St.
Louis
School
of
Law.
He
is
a
former
boatbuilder
who
is
learning
to
swim, is
interested
in
critical
race
theory,
philosophy,
and
humor,
and
has
a
love
for
cycling
that
occasionally
annoys
his
peers.
You
can
reach
him
by
email
at [email protected]
and
by
tweet
at @WritesForRent.