The Secret Service Journal

Can the Secret Service Tell You To Shut Up? Townhall.com ^ March 15, 2012 Judge Andrew Napolitano Last week, President Obama signed into law the Federal Restricted Buildings and Grounds Improvement Act of 2011. This law permits Secret Service agents to designate any place they wish as a place where free speech, association and petition of the government are prohibited. And it permits the Secret Service to make these determinations based on the content of speech. Thus, federal agents whose work is to protect public officials and their friends may prohibit the speech and the gatherings of folks who disagree with those officials or permit the speech and the gatherings of those who would praise them, even though the First Amendment condemns content-based speech discrimination by the government. The new law also provides that anyone who gathers in a "restricted" area may be prosecuted. And because the statute does not require the government to prove intent, a person accidenta...

Could protestors unknowingly run afoul of the Feds and face prison for exercising their First Amendment rights? Yes, according to some analysts , and all that‘s needed is President Obama’s signature for a new law to give the Secret Service powers more befitting the Praetorian Guard. Even former 15-year Secret Service veteran Dan Bongino has raised alarms , as he told the Blaze that House Resolution 347 creates an America in which ”you could accidentally be in a cordoned off secret service controlled area and find yourself in jail.” “This was done to send a message to both sides,” Bongino said, “Occupy Wall Street and the Tea Party” could be affected by this. “It’s a very serious issue.” Bongino , who is a candidate for Senate in Maryland, added that ”you have to ask yourself as an American, do you believe in liberty or not? You cannot have it both ways. You cannot empower government bureaucrats to take your liberty.” The concern about the new authority stem...