Boston Tea Party Inspires San Francisco Pee Party; Updated Political Protest Might Be Timely and Even Necessary
WASHINGTON, D.C. (November 13, 2019) – Just as a political protest known as the Boston Tea Party was necessary to fight lawlessness in 1773, an updated version tentatively termed the San Francisco Pee Party might be necessary to fight the lawlessness arising from a decision that the City By The Bay will no longer prosecute many crimes including urinating, defecating, or camping in public, suggests public interest law professor John Banzhaf.
Q3 2019 hedge fund letters, conferences and more
District attorney Chesa Boudin, who announced that the city will refuse to prosecute people who urinate in public, thereby effectively making public peeing perfectly legal, might well change his mind if a group fed up with lawlessness, and city streets filled with urine and feces, were to stage an organized pee party; openly urinating in his presence whenever he appears in public to go to or from his office or home, make a speech or other public appearance, or simply enjoy a night out with his female partner and/or friends at a local restaurant, night club, or other entertainment venue.
Crime problems in San Fransisco
Indeed, he and his female partner might really begin to realize the seriousness of his decision even more if those seeking law and order began peeing in front of and around his own home in San Francisco, and set up tents on the sidewalk outside his home or even on this front lawn, argues Banzhaf.
The idea of a pee party in San Francisco was first voiced by Jesse Watters on Fox News, but it is not clear whether he meant it as a serious form of social protest, or just as an interesting talking point.
Banzhaf, who has disagreed with Watters on his program on other issues, in this instance wonders whether or not it might really be a completely appropriate way to call attention to the folly and lawlessness of Boudin's decision, and to the very real harm it can cause to people living or working in San Francisco.
Banzhaf has also strongly opposed demonstrators who violate the law to make a point, and has helped inspire law suits against such illegal demonstrators brought under a variety of legal theories.
San Francisco Pee Party details
But here he points out that, as a consequence of Boudin's ruling which in effective nullifies or even repeals the statutory law relating to various public offenses, urinating in public, or setting up tents and camping in them on governmental or perhaps even private property, are no longer illegal in San Francisco, so those pee party participants would seemingly being engaged in strictly legal protests.
He notes that it would take only a few men, and perhaps even some women - who could carry water bottles in backpacks so that they would always be ready - to show up in public places when Boudin is present, and put on a disgusting and clearly inappropriate display by urinating within a few feet of him, presumably in the presence of third parties.
If there were no TV cameras present to record this 21st century version of the Boston Tea Party, third parties are almost certain to record it with the cell phones and make the video available to TV broadcast stations, appropriate sites on the Internet, and elsewhere.
A new survey reveals that 1 out of 3 San Francisco residents are already considering leaving in the near future.
Faced with the public spectacle of people openly urinating in the presence of the city's District Attorney, even more might become disgusted and either plan to leave, or to speak up forcefully enough to persuade Boudin to enforce the law as written, rather than embarking on a quest for social justice, argues Banzhaf.
