Thomas Berg, professor at the University of St. Thomas School of Law, weighed in on the constitutional questions raised by a recent protest inside Cities Church in St. Paul that led to the arrests of demonstrators and journalists covering the event.
Speaking to USA Today, Berg explained how the incident brought multiple First Amendment protections into direct conflict, including the rights to free speech, peaceful assembly, freedom of the press and the free exercise of religion, underscoring the legal complexity of protests that unfold inside private spaces such as houses of worship.
From the article:
“I think you could teach a course on constitutional law from all the things that have happened in Minneapolis in the last month,” said Thomas Berg, a professor at the University of St. Thomas School of Law in Minneapolis. ...
“The journalists are not breaking the law. They are accessing the information they need to share with their audience,” (Ken) Paulson said of the Minnesota case. ...
It would be harder to argue that the journalists had a First Amendment right to report on the church protest if they were found to have been collaborating with the protesters, as federal prosecutors have alleged, Berg said.
