Free Speech Zone

That's funny, I thought the entire country was a "free speech zone."

At least one peace activist was arrested today for trying to pass out leaflets near military recruiters at the Taste of Chicago.

A 21-year-old community college student was taken into custody after she refused to comply with requests from police to move away from the recruiters.

She was passing out leaflets titled "The Bitter Taste of the Military," which discusses military spending on recruiting.

The arrest occurred after the leafletters -- working with a Quaker organization and wearing T-shirts identifying themselves as "Peace Recruiters" -- held a press conference.

They said police had asked them on Friday to restrict their activities to a designated "Free Speech Zone" at Grant Park. The activists defied the police request after the press conference ended.

In so many of these cases, charges are never brought because the people arrested haven't broken any laws. The "offenders" aren't arrested as much as they're removed and their activities stopped.

And isn't that really the point?