{"id":1836539,"date":"2023-02-06T09:35:52","date_gmt":"2023-02-06T14:35:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1836539"},"modified":"2023-02-06T09:37:21","modified_gmt":"2023-02-06T14:37:21","slug":"joe-seyton-phoenix-is-policing-super-bowl-speech-but-not-violent-crime","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/joe-seyton-phoenix-is-policing-super-bowl-speech-but-not-violent-crime\/","title":{"rendered":"Joe Seyton: Phoenix Is Policing Super Bowl Speech, but Not Violent Crime"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fjoe-seyton-phoenix-is-policing-super-bowl-speech-but-not-violent-crime%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1836539&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47-->\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/2b98a630-6eb5-489e-9cec-c921653df3dc.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\"   style=\"display:none\"><\/div>\n<p dir=\"ltr\" id=\"isPasted\">It\u2019s a tale of two cities in downtown Phoenix, set to play host to the national media and all the associated fanfare in the lead-up to Super Bowl LVII.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Or rather, it\u2019s a tale of where one city government\u2019s priorities lie, brought to light by two lawsuits challenging the city\u2019s willingness to trample on its residents\u2019 rights. Government officials can\u2019t be bothered to police violent crime in one of the nation\u2019s largest homeless encampments. But they have more than enough time and resources to police their own citizens\u2019 free speech ahead of the Super Bowl.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">A huge area of downtown Phoenix is known as \u201cThe Zone,\u201d The crisis is affecting more than 1,000 homeless people who have set up tents.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.goldwaterinstitute.org\/crisis-spirals-in-phoenixs-homeless-zone-but-some-are-demanding-action\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Spiraling<\/a> Lawlessness, violence, death, and other forms of chaos have made it impossible to control.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox10phoenix.com\/news\/crimes-zone-theft-assaults-drugs-unsanitary-conditions-plague-downtown-phoenix-tent-city\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">regular occurrences<\/a>. And that\u2019s to say nothing of the used condoms, needles, and human waste littering the streets. How bad is this? Last November, the burnt remains of a 20- to 24-week-old fetus were discovered.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.azcentral.com\/story\/news\/local\/phoenix-breaking\/2022\/11\/12\/fetus-found-burned-dead-phoenix-street\/10687273002\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Find it<\/a> In the street. Less than three weeks later, first responders put out another fire\u2014only to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.azcentral.com\/story\/news\/local\/phoenix-breaking\/2022\/12\/02\/phoenix-police-man-dies-after-being-set-on-fire-detectives-seek-answers\/69696389007\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Discover<\/a> Adult remains.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Local property and business owners who are tired of seeing their livelihoods destroyed are now suing the city to stop it from becoming a nuisance. (The Goldwater Institute where I work has a similar complaint.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.goldwaterinstitute.org\/homelessness-crime-surge-in-phoenixs-the-zone-goldwater-demands-action\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Filed a brief<\/a> in support of these citizens\u2019 rights.) Officials spent years shunting homeless people into The Zone, and now they\u2019re refusing to effectively patrol the area, reportedly instructing police officers to take no action to enforce the law. While the city has received almost $100 million in federal COVID funding since 2021 to address its homelessness crisis, it had not spent any of that money.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.12news.com\/article\/news\/investigations\/i-team\/judge-hears-arguments-conditions-the-zone-phoenixs-largest-homeless-encampment\/75-183907f0-3522-4fc5-92c2-2be37beb0368\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Below 10 percent<\/a> This windfall was available as of last year.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The city government is failing The Zone&#8217;s law-abiding citizens as well as the homeless who live on the streets amid unpoliced violence. And while city leaders are unwilling to protect the public\u2019s health and safety, those same leaders were champing at the bit to cater to the whims of the National Football League\u2014even if it meant censoring their own citizens in the weeks surrounding the Super Bowl.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><span>The city stated that no residents or businesses were allowed to live in the \u201cclean zone,\u201d which encompasses most of downtown Phoenix, could put up any temporary signs\u2014including flags, banners, posters, flyers or even window paintings\u2014without the approval of the city, the NFL, and the Arizona Super Bowl Host Committee. This mandate was intended to make sure that only the NFL and its sponsors could advertise in the Super Bowl. \u201cclean zone.\u201d It was a ban on communication with the public that affected hundreds of businesses as well as thousands of residents.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><span>After the Goldwater Institute\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.goldwaterinstitute.org\/super-bowl-censorship-goldwater-sues-city-of-phoenix-for-letting-nfl-suppress-speech\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Sued the city<\/a><span>\u00a0The government has taken action against these unconstitutional restrictions\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.azcentral.com\/story\/news\/local\/phoenix\/2023\/01\/26\/phoenix-amends-super-bowl-clean-zone-sign-rules-after-lawsuit\/69842404007\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Amended<\/a><span>\u00a0The \u201cclean zone\u201d ordinance to eliminate the NFL and the Host Committee as part of the signage decision-making process. (This week, a court\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.goldwaterinstitute.org\/victory-court-orders-phoenix-to-stop-censoring-people-for-the-super-bowl\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ruled<\/a><span>\u00a0The restrictions were not constitutional. But it\u2019s all too clear what is and is not important to city leaders. There are not many flashy media events at The Zone. There are no opportunities to\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.phoenix.gov\/econdevsite\/Documents\/January%202015%20CED%20Newsletter.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Credit<\/a><span>\u00a0For\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/01\/29\/sports\/football\/super-bowl-lii-minnesota.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Exaggerated<\/a><span>\u00a0Projections of economic impact. There is no national spotlight.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><span>The city won\u2019t enforce its laws to reduce the violence in The Zone, but it will\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.azcentral.com\/story\/news\/local\/phoenix\/2022\/12\/27\/major-economic-impact-expected-in-metro-phoenix-for-hosting-super-bowl-lvii\/69733113007\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mobilize 20 cities departments<\/a><span>\u00a0to spend countless hours\u2014all on the taxpayers\u2019 dime\u2014preparing for the million or so visitors expected to attend Super Bowl festivities in Phoenix. (The big game is actually being played in Glendale.<\/span><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><span>The city won\u2019t protect business owners from the ruin caused by its own negligence in the Zone, but it will gladly censor its own citizens to protect the NFL and its sponsors from competing advertisers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><span>Hosting Super Bowl festivities is an exciting opportunity for Phoenix\u2014but the whims of the city and the NFL shouldn\u2019t come at the cost of citizens\u2019 constitutional rights. Nor should innocent residents and business owners in The Zone forfeit their rights because the city doesn\u2019t want to fulfill its duty and enforce the law.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><span>It\u2019s time for the Phoenix government to get its priorities in order\u2014that\u2019s what\u00a0all\u00a0its citizens deserve.<\/span><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.goldwaterinstitute.org\/our-team\/joe-setyon\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Joe Setyon<\/em><\/a><em>\u00a0The Goldwater Institute&#8217;s Communications Manager is he.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s a tale of two cities in downtown Phoenix, set to play host to the national media and all the associated fanfare in the lead-up to Super Bowl LVII. Or rather, it\u2019s a tale of where one city government\u2019s priorities lie, brought to light by two lawsuits challenging the city\u2019s willingness to trample on its &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1742093,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[547],"tags":[4785,7204,7189,17773,17311,17772,4554,4783,3947],"class_list":["post-1836539","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-bongino-report","tag-bowl","tag-crime","tag-joe","tag-phoenix","tag-policing","tag-seyton","tag-speech","tag-super","tag-violent"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1836539","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1836539"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1836539\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1742093"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1836539"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1836539"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1836539"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}