Mama Don't 'low no Old-Time Music Round WIS

[mandocrucian]

Wisconsin Capitol Police crack down on old-timey music


Staatliche Polizei. Zeigen Sie mir Ihre Papiere! Schnell!

[Paul Kotapish]

Dangerous stuff. If they let the old-time musicians get away with such flagrant flouting of ordinances, who knows what other transgressions might transpire at the Westside Farmers Market. Bluegrass? Irish music? Blues? It might even lead to dancing or laughter. Utter chaos.

[Hayduke]

If spontaneous events do not need a permit wouldn't this count? "Late each week, if we find we have enough members available on a Saturday morning, we gather at the market to play a traditional American musical style commonly referred to as 'old-timey' with some Irish mixed in. For the children, we put out boxes of shakers, rattles and other percussion instruments. This activity is quite popular."

Permits? We don't need no stinkin' permits!

[Markus]

Ironically, there is footage of my band playing inside the Capitol a couple years back available online. No permit ... Yet we were recorded by the UW Folklore program for their archive.

[Brian Ray]

Sadness...

[Dale Ludewig]

If I didn't know otherwise, I'd have thought this was from The Onion. Department of Justice? I think Deparment of Defense may need to be brought in.

[allenhopkins]

As I noted in another thread recently, if you want to busk on the streets of Dublin, Ireland, you must demonstrate a repertoire of at least 20 songs. BBC article. I assume some branch of the Dublin municipal government conducts busker auditions.

I thought Wisconsin had become an outpost of "smaller government," but requiring a permit to jam at a farmers' market seems a bit Big Brother-ish. Then the market'll be required to pay ASCAP and BMI fees for Soldier's Joy and Sally Goodin, the whole thing will become unsustainably hassled, and people will say, "Hey, didn't there used to be music here? What happened to it?"

[mandocrucian]

Actually this is really just another facet/means of suppressing public assembly and the freedom of speech up in the dairy state. In this instance, it happens to be pickers getting pushed around as a demonstration of "who is in charge."

"Capitol Police Chief David Erwin has followed up on his promise to crack down on anyone who strays from state Capitol permitting rules, including those who sing at noon with the Solidarity Singers. He's even sent deputies to deliver tickets to people's homes and workplaces."

"Since last week, the Capitol Police have issued more than 15 tickets for permitting infractions. The first slew were issued for violations of the Department of Administration's administrative code — AD 2.07, titled "Exterior and Interior Displays and Decorations.

According to the code, "no displays, signs, banners, placards, decorations or graphic or artistic material may be erected, attached, mounted or displayed within or on the building or the grounds of any state office building or facility without the express written authority of the department." "

There are videos on YouTube of people getting arrested (believe it or not) for merely holding an 8-1/2"x11" piece of paper which has a message/slogan written on it.

[Geordie]

And then the police wonder why the community doesn't support them.

I assume some branch of the Dublin municipal government conducts busker auditions.

Where can I get a job like that?

"Moldy Jam's forced absence from the market is just collateral damage in a wider ideological conflict."

Word.

[DerTiefster]

I guess that rather than "displaying" the materials, a body ought to "offer" them to passers-by, possibly as part of a petition drive to unhorse certain parties. That's handing out printed materials, rather than displaying them, and that is, as a free speech item, something that should stand protected in a court of law. Just my opinion, of course, but it seems -very- much in accordance with what I know of the law. I don't -think- you can be (theoretically) required to obtain a permit from the government to gather signatures on a petition.

[Beanzy]

As I noted in another thread recently, if you want to busk on the streets of Dublin, Ireland, you must demonstrate a repertoire of at least 20 songs. BBC article. I assume some branch of the Dublin municipal government conducts busker auditions.

Apparently it's only a voluntary code though. The place is amped to hell and back with competing buskers. I'd like to see a 10watt / 1 hour in a spot limit there and then just leave them to it. It used to be really nice to catch the buskers on Grafton St. not so often now.

I like Michael T's take on it. Also I wonder if you could wear a Tee shirt with a slogan?
But, apart from mounting placards and posters etc. , which can mess the place up, isn't it all a bit Swiss to have a starting point of everything being banned unless you get official permission?

[Bertram Henze]

Can't you get past it by applying either to "if the event organizer reasonably expects more than 100 persons to attend" (no persons attend, they just walk past),
or to "unless the event is a bona fide spontaneous event" by meeting at irregular times like a flashmob?

Sometimes, authorities seem to forget that it takes only a machine to enforce written prescriptions, but it takes a human being to understand the reason behind the prescriptions and (reasonably) enforce that. What a dead giveaway.

...isn't it all a bit Swiss...?

didn't know that proverbial usage

What I would do: either
- obtain a permit for each time, no matter if the jam really takes place, or
- have one single musician stand there at the accustomed time, instrument in hand, doing nothing; if somebody asks "no music?" he explains the reasons; leading to a public outcry, a mob storming the police office...

[M.Marmot]

leading to a public outcry, a mob storming the police office...

Surely that should read 'leading to a private outcry off of and away from public spaces and state properties, and the organizing of a proposed mob, filing for the correct permits for public gathering at least ten days in advance, especially if they know in that the mob will have over a hundred attendees, and then, ensuring that no banners are flown, eye-catching paraphernalia sported, or memorable slogans chanted, proceed in an orderly fashion to the police office to proffer a strongly worded note of grievance at the reception, all within reasonable office hours'?