NYT: Suit Says Police Violated Occupy Wall Street Protesters’ Constitutional Rights
Suit Says Police Violated Occupy Wall Street Protesters’ Constitutional Rights
Scores of false-arrest lawsuits rooted in Occupy events have been filed against the city, but this one differs from others because the plaintiffs are focusing on the assertion that the city had a deliberate policy of indifference to expressive speech rights. First Amendment activity is typically entitled to wide latitude under the law, said Wylie Stecklow, one of the lawyers who filed the case. But he added that the police have a history of arresting protesters on disorderly conduct charges when their behavior might have caused an inconvenience but was not criminal.
A Police Department spokesman did not respond to a request for comment. A spokesman for the city’s Law Department, Nick Paolucci, said, “We will review the claims and respond accordingly.”
The new lawsuit seeks damages and a court order that would stop the police from charging people engaged in First Amendment speech with disorderly conduct absent criminal behavior. It names nine plaintiffs who said they were arrested while on sidewalks or in a crosswalk.
Funny unrelated side-note ...
Scott Walker inaccurately takes credit for inspiring the Occupy Movement
Walker’s memoir opens with the call he received in March 2011 that thousands of protesters had “overrun the police and were rampaging through the historic Wisconsin state capitol building.” The book is his account of the epic budget battle and the ensuing recall challenge. He retells this story frequently — if not in every speech and interview — on the campaign trail. In fact, he says, these protests gave birth to the Occupy Movement, the umbrella movement that formed out of the protests against social and economic inequality through Occupy Wall Street in New York City’s Zuccotti Park.
How accurate is this characterization?
Four Pinocchios