People’s rights need protection

STEVE KASS stood his ground. He stopped on a public street to talk and listen to an Occupy Wall Street protester at Zuccotti Park, apparently to try to find out what the protest was about. The police approached Kass and told him he could not stand on the public sidewalk — and that he should move on or join the protest. He chose neither.

In a constitutional democracy, it is important to make sure the government and its law enforcement agents have a good reason for telling a citizen to move from a public sidewalk. It is not sufficient to argue the person must move just because the police say so.

The city argues that the NYPD have the discretion to tell someone to clear the sidewalk. However, the city cannot maintain such an automatic “one size fits all” rule. Rather the rule must be contextual. If the sidewalk is not crowded, no crowd is forming, and the individual(s) is not blocking pedestrian traffic, creating a public nuisance or creating a public safety issue at that point in time, then the police cannot simply tell the individuals to move off a public sidewalk.

The city even argues that a reporter asking questions of the protesters for a news story, who did not move when asked, could be arrested as well. Here again, the city’s position is not correct, as it would seriously erode our First Amendment freedom of the press right.

Steve Kass was not blocking the sidewalk, impeding pedestrian traffic or creating a disturbance. Moreover, he was exercising his First Amendment right to talk to and listen to the protester, choosing not to be part of or associated with the protest.

Nonetheless, he was apparently falsely arrested. Although this is but one New Yorker exercising his rights, the case presents fundamental questions regarding the powers and limits of police actions.