First Amendment in Action

I saw something a little strange on the way home today. Now, on the edge of campus there is always a pair of Mormons holding a sign saying "Ask the missionaries any question" (I haven't yet had a chance to ask them the wind-speed velocity of an unladen swallow). Certainly these quiet Mormons are much more agreeable than the Mormons at UNSW who stand on Anzac parade accosting people as they try to cross the street.

Anyway, today there was another guy holding a sign that said "Warning: Your rights are about to be violated - seat belt check ahead." I was only a little surprised that there would be a seat belt check, that is something that a lot of Americans are quite lax about. More surprising was that someone would go to all that effort so that a few people can continue to not wear their seat belts.

But most astonishing is that there was a cop standing just 20m behind this guy, just watching him alert the traffic to the trap. Now, as I understand it, in Australia it's highly illegal to flash your headlights to alert other drivers about RBTs, ostructing the course of justice or some such thing. But this cop was just watching that guy with his sign. I can only assume that his right to free speech protected him. All the same, it's quite surprising that they didn't try to shuffle him off into a free speech zone.