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So when protesters initially

2
00:00:01,702 --> 00:00:03,070
took over the intersection

3
00:00:03,136 --> 00:00:03,837
where a man was shot

4
00:00:03,904 --> 00:00:04,838
and killed by police

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00:00:04,905 --> 00:00:05,973
they were exercising

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00:00:06,039 --> 00:00:07,608
their right to assemble.

7
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Were they still within their

8
00:00:08,976 --> 00:00:10,277
legal constitutional rights

9
00:00:10,344 --> 00:00:12,479
to be in that public space?

10
00:00:12,546 --> 00:00:13,981
No, or to put it differently

11
00:00:14,047 --> 00:00:14,915
not necessarily.

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So let's back up a step.

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The way these kind of rules

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00:00:17,417 --> 00:00:18,852
the way rights in general

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00:00:18,919 --> 00:00:19,586
we talk about them

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is not in terms of you have

17
00:00:21,388 --> 00:00:22,489
the right to do x

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00:00:22,556 --> 00:00:23,724
but in terms can the government

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stop you from doing x?

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It's always a

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negative constraint on what

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00:00:27,227 --> 00:00:28,428
the government may do

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00:00:28,495 --> 00:00:29,229
with the implication that

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even if it's not prohibited

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00:00:31,098 --> 00:00:31,698
you must be

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00:00:31,765 --> 00:00:33,300
left free to undertake.

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00:00:33,367 --> 00:00:34,368
So the rules are

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the government is perfectly free

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to make what are called

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00:00:36,303 --> 00:00:37,638
content-neutral time

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00:00:37,704 --> 00:00:39,706
place and manner regulations.

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And these are things, like

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00:00:40,641 --> 00:00:41,808
don't use loudspeakers

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00:00:41,875 --> 00:00:42,843
at night, don't camp

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00:00:42,910 --> 00:00:43,677
overnight in a park.

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Those are actual old cases.

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So there's no question that

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cities and states have

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00:00:48,882 --> 00:00:49,550
the authority to

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00:00:49,616 --> 00:00:51,084
make those rules so long as

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00:00:51,151 --> 00:00:52,052
they're content neutral.

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00:00:52,119 --> 00:00:54,354
You can't say, for example

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00:00:54,421 --> 00:00:55,789
no blocking the streets

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00:00:55,856 --> 00:00:56,957
in a protest unless

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00:00:57,024 --> 00:00:58,492
it's a protest about schools

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00:00:58,559 --> 00:00:59,960
or no blocking the streets

47
00:01:00,027 --> 00:01:01,228
except for political purposes

48
00:01:01,295 --> 00:01:02,095
or something like that.

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00:01:02,162 --> 00:01:03,497
So these are very broad

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00:01:03,564 --> 00:01:06,366
very straightforward rules.