Note: *Ismael Mena related*

LET'S POST THE BILL OF RIGHTS

Feb. 23 - Here is a suggestion for state Sen. John Andrews to consider in
his spare time, since he's failed to persuade the Colorado Legislature to
require that the Ten Commandments be posted in schoolrooms throughout the
state:

He ought to propose a law to require that the U.S. Constitution be posted
in the squad rooms of the Denver Police Department. And, while he's at it,
he ought to demand that the document be taped above the desks of Mayor
Wellington Webb and Butch Montoya, the mayor's cabinet member responsible
for running the city's cop shop.

Maybe they'll read it and, even better, maybe they'll call someone in the
city attorney's office to explain it.

It seems no one in the mayor's office, or Montoya's office or the police
department has read and comprehends the historic document that sets America
apart from all other governments on the planet by protecting its citizens
from the unbridled power of the state.

For instance, the Constitution grants citizens of the United States of
America the right to peaceably assemble and the right of free speech.

That's about as simple as any of the Ten Commandments, yet it seems to be
an unfamiliar concept to some employees of the Denver Police Department and
possibly even to the mayor and his manager of safety.

Let us review a couple of fundamental principles of our Constitution for
those who might have not understood them the first time:

- - Citizens have the right to peaceably assemble.

- - Citizens have the right of free speech.

These are among the basic freedoms essential to protecting the American
people from oppression by their government - and especially from the powers
of its police.

Most of us learned that lesson in highschool civics classes (remember
those?), but apparently it's been forgotten by the mayor, his manager of
safety and at least a few folks employed at DPD Blue.

Denver's Finest busted a group of citizens who, by all accounts, were
peaceably assembled Monday afternoon on public property, exercising their
right of free speech - voicing their criticism of the Denver Police
Department.

They were told to go away. Pronto. Or face possible arrest.

And so this little band of citizens dispersed, having its rights
arbitrarily stripped away by a couple of folks with uniforms and with
badges and with guns and with the power of arrest and with the authority
granted them by the mayor and his as-yet-uncontradicted manager of safety.

Maybe government should teach cops the 10 amendments and let churches teach
kids the Ten Commandments.