“We Are Living in a Different Time”
Without, apparently, a constitutional right to freedom of assembly:

“GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — When opposition to the war in Iraq began to mount last year, city police sent undercover officers to anti-war meetings and rallies, collecting intelligence about the aims of activists, the department’s chief confirmed. …

The protesters were arrested when dozens marched through downtown streets after the main rally had concluded and refused police orders to disperse.

“We are living in a different time now. It’s a different day,” Dolan told The Grand Rapids Press for a story published Sunday.

But war protesters say the surveillance infringed on their civil rights more than it protected them from terror. In one case, they say, police threatened the job of a protester and said they would arrest her if she identified undercover officers she recognized. “

> AP: “Grand Rapids police monitored anti-war protests, chief says”