Sleep Now in the Fire: Anti-Protest Laws and the Environmental Movement

Abstract

Since 2017, in response to the nonviolent protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline, more than a dozen states across the country adopted legislation limiting citizens’ ability to protest against fossil fuel infrastructure projects through means ranging from increased penalties for trespassing to allowing state officials to prohibit public gatherings. Widespread protests and civil unrest during the summer of 2020 in response to racial injustice prompted states across the country to adopt legislation expanding the definitions of terms like “riot” and “unlawful gathering” and providing increased penalties for acts of protest. This comment analyzes three representative statutes from Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Tennessee using a constitutional framework to consider the impacts of these statutes on First Amendment rights, including speech, assembly, and association.