Gov. Asa Hutchinson has vetoed legislation that would have created the offense of unlawful mass picketing and made it a misdemeanor crime.
The Republican governor said in a letter to the Senate dated Thursday and released Friday that he vetoed Senate Bill 550 by Sen. Trent Garner, R-El Dorado, because "the bill in its current form is overbroad, vague and will have the effect of restricting both free speech and the right to assemble."
Garner said he's disappointed with Hutchinson's veto of his bill and disagreed with Hutchinson's assessment that it would restrict free speech and the right to assemble. Those are guaranteed in the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
"We are going to weigh all our options," he said when asked if he would attempt to override Hutchinson's veto of the bill.
The Senate narrowly voted 18-8 to send the bill to the governor on March 31, after the House voted 58-21 on March 29 for its amended version of the bill. On March 13, the Senate voted 22-6 to approve an initial version of the bill before the House amended it.
Garner said SB550 is influenced by legislation in other states, and "it was an Arkansas-based piece of legislation."
"I believe in two years this will be more of a pressing issue and people will have a greater understanding of it," Garner said. The legislation is backed by the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce/Associated Industries of Arkansas.
The Arkansas chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union described the bill as part of a wave of anti-protest bills that has swept the nation, drawing condemnation from civil-rights advocates and experts at the United Nations.
SB550 would define "mass picketing" as the assembly of people in the use of pickets or demonstrations at or near a business, school or private facility.
A person would have committed the offense of unlawful mass picketing if the person knowingly engaged in mass picketing that obstructed access to the pursuit of lawful work or employment or obstructed the entrance or exit from a workplace or the free use of public roads, streets, highways, railways, airports or other rights-of-way of travel or conveyance. The definition of the crime also included involvement in mass picketing that obstructed the entrance or exit from a private residence or included a threat of violence or intimidation in the vicinity of that residence.
Unlawful mass picketing would have been a class A misdemeanor crime, which is punishable by up to a year in jail.
Hutchinson said in his letter to the Senate that the description of mass picketing "is vague as it fails to sufficiently provide the public or law enforcement with the parameters under which the statute would be utilized.
"The bill would provide an opportunity for law enforcement to apply criminal statutes to public assembly and, in being vague in its definition, could impede the exercise of constitutional rights," the governor said.
SB550 states that it wouldn't apply to anyone validly exercising his rights as guaranteed by the U.S. or Arkansas constitutions.
Hutchinson said the bill "fails to identify bright-line differentiation between constitutionally protected activity and activity subject to the penalties outlined in the bill. In short, it is both overly broad and vague."
The core issues that SB550 attempts to address are already provided for in existing state law for disruptive conduct under Arkansas Code Annotated 10-2-110, obstructing governmental operations under Arkansas Code Annotated 5-54-102, disruption of campus activities under Arkansas Code Annotated 5-71-226 and obstructing emergency medical personnel under Arkansas Code Annotated 5-60-123, the governor said.
"While Senator Garner's goal -- public safety -- is admirable, I believe this bill will have a chilling effect on free speech and the right to assemble," the governor said in his letter.
Asked about the veto, Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce and Associated Industries of Arkansas President Randy Zook said, "We are in conversation with the governor's staff on how best to address his concerns about the constitutional issues.
"Our goal is to insure the safety of employees and customers who need access to businesses as well as the general public's access to public streets and highways. Hopefully we can come back to this matter sometime down the road," he said in a written statement.
Incidents such People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals blocking access to a downtown office building in Little Rock, a group blocking access to the Interstate 40 bridge in Memphis and "the Occupy Wall Street bunch" keeping "downtown in a mess several times" demonstrates the need for this legislation, Zook said.
ACLU of Arkansas Executive Director Rita Sklar said Hutchinson "did the right thing by vetoing this unconstitutional anti-protest bill.
"We're also grateful to the many Arkansans who joined us in speaking out against this heavy-handed attempt to restrict the freedom of assembly and criminalize constitutionally-protected speech," Sklar said in a written statement.
"This proposal to prosecute people who take to the streets to speak their minds is part of a dangerous trend that the ACLU will fight at every turn. The General Assembly should let this veto stand."
Metro on 04/08/2017