After the recent wave of conservative judgments from the Supreme Court on abortion, gun control and environmental regulation, many Americans are looking for alternatives to the courts for ways to enact democratic change. Yet, in the past several years, many state lawmakers — often Republicans — have systematically attempted to restrict other traditional paths for political participation.
Some of these shifts have received widespread attention, particularly a slew of new state laws that were inspired by President Donald Trump’s false claims that he won the 2020 election. These laws limit opportunities to vote and set the stage for potential partisan interference in elections. As concerning as these laws are, they are only part of a much larger set of constraints facing citizens wanting to engage in our democracy. As the country has become increasingly polarized, politicians have targeted the ability of opponents to push dissenting views.
Consider those who wish to go into the streets to protest the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which allows states to restrict access to abortion, including making the procedure illegal. Since 2017, 45 states have considered over 200 anti-protest bills, so far enacting 38 of them, mostly in reaction to Black Lives Matter and environmental protesters. These laws significantly increase liability for common forms of peaceful protest. For example, after the protests in response to the murder of George Floyd by Minnesota police officer Derek Chauvin in 2020, Arkansas, Iowa and Tennessee increased the penalty for blocking a sidewalk during a demonstration. Now in all three states a protester can be sentenced to up to a year in jail for this offense.
