Alternatively another explicitly envisioned scenario for the permit requirement is construction or repairs and the related use of heavy machinery and equipment that will cause noise that may be disturbing and thus over the generally normal 60 dB level of ordinary conversation.
These facts actually are the law. Only a deliberate attempt to deceive the citizens or falsely twist the law to meet the objectives of the authorities could have mistaken these purposes so as to claim their applicability to both normal public speech and Constitutionally protected political speech.
This degree of open dishonesty and contempt for the law by government authorities raises several of the concerns central to the message and theme expressed by the Occupy movement such as accountability of government officials under the law and the equal and fair treatment of citizens by such authorities as guided solely by law, rather than the mere might of authority, and limited by the protections instituted in the highest form of our laws.
The arbitrary nature of the enforcement of the laws, however validly applied, also raises great concerns regarding the right to due process and the preservation of justice. And the excessively forceful approach of the NYPD officers in claiming to be enforcing those laws all raise serious questions that should concern any American who values the Constitution and the notion of a Nation governed not merely by men but by the Rule of Law which limits such men in their legitimate actions.
The overly-simplistic interpretation and, when taken out of context, often unreasonable consequences that are implied therefrom are also brought into view when looking at how easily the Occupiers could take the language of the law, even if this were its valid interpretation and legitimate application, and use it to openly defy the intent of the abusive authorities, and themselves then claim, using the same language and interpretation, that the law actually protects their actions.
This can be seen when considering the very noticeable elimination of the Occupiers highly visible banner by the implementation of these new rules. To what reasonable effect would such a rule, if legitimately enacted, actually play in practice if it could easily be overcome with a little ingenuity and creative thinking. Nothing, for example, could stop the Occupiers from recreating the very same image -- including not only its look and message but also its exact physical size and dimensions.
All they would have to do, under the existing but flawed interpretation and application of these rules, is to create several individual three by four foot signs, with a fragment of the whole on each sign, and stand several individuals in a row each holding an individual sign in its respective order. The simplicity whereby the effects of the stated rule can be thoroughly overcome only serves to show that the current claims and application of the rules are arbitrary and capricious and serve no genuine public interest.
A further point of interest and public significance revealed by these recent protests is that they demonstrate that like the old adage goes "the rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated."
The Occupy Movement, and its particular branch of Occupy Wall Street, is and has remained very much alive despite reports of its death and the predictions of many critics that it could not survive the Winter. Occupy Wall Street and the Occupy Movement are here to stay, for the moment at least, and they have a powerful and resonating message that is sure to again capture the attention of the general public if they are exposed to these facts through the Nation's major media outlets.
And if they fail to inform the public Occupy has also shown that they have not only the will but the way -- the technology and skills - to eventually deliver that message themselves widely across the Nation without the need for the middleman of the establishment they so thoroughly criticize.
Occupy Wall Street is clearly alive and well, taking a stand and making an impact on the streets of New York City.
If fully reported to the general public the outrageous behavior of the authorities and the abuses of police power in this stand-off over First Amendment rights will stand out unambiguously for all to see and judge. This struggle has ironically found the cause of the Occupiers championed by Federal Police authorities, whose actions clearly upset and interfered with the intentions of the local New York City police to quash the protest and silence the movement.
The Occupation of Federal Hall, although initially an
unintended consequence of a quick thinking decision in the face of a questionable
police crackdown, has the potential, no less than the abuses of police
authority associated with the iconic image of an officer pepper-spraying a
group of innocent girls caged behind orange netting by the police, to place the
Occupy Movement once again in the center spotlight of national social and
political discourse.
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