Shields urged the mayor to rely on any tools available "within the framework of the Constitution" to keep protesters under control, the Chicago Sun-Times reported last month.
"We are prepared to explore the peaceful transfer of authority in the framework of the constitution.
Sporadic street protests and other acts of civil disobedience are likely to continue, but they will be combined with an insistence that opposition is "loyal" and within the framework of the constitution, avoiding the charge of challenging the regime itself.
"This secret prison has a sectarian character, and it shows that the security forces and the army have an iron fist outside of the framework of the Constitution," he said.
But only one step: the truth is, that the greatest lesson taught by what has happened in recent years is that we need a new constitutional settlement in our country, across the board, from our system of representation to the basic framework of the constitution itself.
The March on Rome was not the conquest of power that Mussolini later called it but rather a transfer of power within the framework of the constitution, a transfer made possible by the surrender of public authorities in the face of fascist intimidation.
Mr Mousavi-Khoeiniha, wearing the black turban of a descendant of the Prophet, told the court: "I say from the bottom of my heart and soul that our Islamic Republic can remain only if it guarantees the maximum of legitimate freedoms in the framework of the constitution".
He stressed that the proposals, which would require Parliament's approval, are within the framework of the Constitution.
"We welcome the partnership and dialogue with all political parties and all forces, but in the framework of the Constitution".
We tend to think of the two political parties that have ruled American politics for the last 150 years as being cemented into the framework of the Constitution.
