North Carolina Republicans must be shocked -- SHOCKED -- to discover that the First Amendment doesn't just apply to them!

Via New Civil Rights Movement:

A Superior Court Judge in North Carolina has struck down most of the new rules the state legislature passed in order to thwart those vexing Moral Monday protests that just won’t go quietly away. Judge Carl Fox said the lawmakers can’t ban noise, like singing and clapping, nor can they confiscate protest signs because it has a messages that disturb the sensibilities of a lawmaker.

Thom Tillis (R-Art Pope), who is challenging Kay Hagan for her Senate seat, brought Moral Mondays on himself.

Rep. Tillis’ relentless prosecution of his right-wing agenda spawned the ongoing Moral Mondays Movement – the largest protests in the South since the Civil Rights era. Each and every Monday, crowds of people converge on the capitol with signs and banners, expressing their displeasure or advocating for their cause. Rather than peter out after a few weeks, Moral Monday protests have grown in size and spread to other southern cities. If the legislature is in session, the Moral Monday protesters will be outside their door, so if nothing else, they will at least have to look their victims in the face.

But last month, just days before the summer session began, Speaker Tillis found a way to thwart the protesters’ ability to gather. He ordered the eight Republicans and two Democrats on the House Legislative Services Committee, which had not met since 1999, to revisit the rules and penalties for protesters – and boy did they!

Overreach has consequences. I hope the Moral Mondays folks show up in numbers never seen before after this ruling.