Tennessee Criminal Lawyer Blog

Exercise of the First Amendment right of free speech is alive and well in the state of Tennessee. Recently, residents from Bristol and surrounding areas of East Tennessee came out to protest President Obama’s healthcare initiative outside a Kroger supermarket. From all reports, no arrests were made during the protest.

The same cannot be said about a demonstration that occurred on March 14 in front of the Tennessee Valley Authority headquarters, located near Market Square. During the protest, local residents, students and out-of-state activists demonstrated against mountaintop removal coal mining and the recent coal ash disaster affecting the residents of Harriman, Tennessee in Roane County.

After marching through downtown, some participants decided to stage a “die in” by falling to the sidewalk, symbolizing what they believed to be the deaths caused by the coal industry. Within a few minutes, law enforcement informed the participants that they were blocking a sidewalk and needed to leave. When they refused, they were arrested and charged with “loitering.”

Loitering is perhaps the most common offense charged during a protest or demonstration. In Tennessee, loitering falls under the general crime of disorderly conduct. In the protest context, you can (lawfully) be arrested for 1) refusing to obey an officer’s order to disperse so long as the order is issued to maintain public safety during an emergency situation, 2) creating a hazardous or physically offensive condition by an act that serves no legitimate purpose, or 3) making an unreasonable noise that prevents others from carrying on lawful activities.