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>> "I should go get 5000 of my closest friends to block the Brooklyn Bridge." Anything you say can and will be held against you in a court of law. It is disap

>> "I should go get 5000 of my closest friends to block the Brooklyn Bridge." Anything you say can and will be held against you in a court of law. It is disappointing that the Government will go to great length to arrest and prosecute hundreds of citizens exercising their constitutional rights. But, it does not have balls to go after any of the greedy wall street bankers who robbed the country.

jrockway 14y ago
It is disappointing that the Government will go to great length to arrest and prosecute hundreds of citizens exercising their constitutional rights. Which part of the Constitution says you are allowed to block the street? (The crime the people committed is not particularly serious, but it's not a Constitutionally-protected right to block the Brooklyn Bridge.) As for the Wall Street bankers, who do you want to prosecute for what?
- RealGeek 14y ago
  There are a several videos on interwebs of police arresting people who were not blocking streets (other than the Brooklyn Bridge incident). Moreover, the court has ruled that the Brooklyn Bridge incident was police's fault and arrests were unreasonable. As for the Wall Street bankers, who do you want to prosecute for what? Executives of banks and mortgage companies engaged in fraudulent practices that led to the financial crisis. Instead of pressing criminal charges, they were rewarded by the Government.
  - wseymour 14y ago
    > Instead of pressing criminal charges, they were rewarded by the Government. I think it would be more appropriate to direct your anger toward the government in equal or greater measure, instead.
    - Retric 14y ago
      I think he like most people have plenty of rage to go around.
  - anamax 14y ago
    > Executives of banks and mortgage companies engaged in fraudulent practices that led to the financial crisis. At least some of these practices were "encouraged" if not mandated by govt regulators. Are you planning to punish them? If not, what's the justification for punishing the folks following their orders?
- david927 14y ago
  It's your constitutional right to assemble. If you get a million people, for example, assembling, you cannot keep the same rules of traffic as usual. (It would be impossible (and the attempt dangerous) to try to keep a million people on the sidewalk.) [Edit: In other words, your constitutional right to turn out and assemble is independent of whether there will be enough space for you on the sidewalk.] As for the Wall Street bankers, who do you want to prosecute for what? Those that committed it, for fraud. It's an open-and-shut case if the power existed to prosecute it.
  - tptacek 14y ago
    Cox v. New Hampshire, "reasonable time, place, and manner".
    - david927 14y ago
      Great response! Thanks for that.
    - sp332 14y ago
      As a counter-point, New Hampshire has a Right to Revolution granted in its constitution. It has been used to successfully defend a protestor who cut down a power line at a nuclear plant, and was recently brought up in an OWS case. https://inzanetimes.wordpress.com/2012/02/20/lawyer-for-occupy-nh-activists-asserts-right-to-revolution/ https://inzanetimes.wordpress.com/2012/02/20/lawyer-for-occu...
  - andylei 14y ago
    > It's an open-and-shut case if the power existed to prosecute it. if that were true, why are their customers not suing them for fraud? seems like they'd win a lot of money pretty easily if it were an open and shut case.

jrockway 14y ago

It is disappointing that the Government will go to great length to arrest and prosecute hundreds of citizens exercising their constitutional rights. Which part of the Constitution says you are allowed to block the street? (The crime the people committed is not particularly serious, but it's not a Constitutionally-protected right to block the Brooklyn Bridge.) As for the Wall Street bankers, who do you want to prosecute for what?

RealGeek 14y ago
There are a several videos on interwebs of police arresting people who were not blocking streets (other than the Brooklyn Bridge incident). Moreover, the court has ruled that the Brooklyn Bridge incident was police's fault and arrests were unreasonable. As for the Wall Street bankers, who do you want to prosecute for what? Executives of banks and mortgage companies engaged in fraudulent practices that led to the financial crisis. Instead of pressing criminal charges, they were rewarded by the Government.
- wseymour 14y ago
  > Instead of pressing criminal charges, they were rewarded by the Government. I think it would be more appropriate to direct your anger toward the government in equal or greater measure, instead.
  - Retric 14y ago
    I think he like most people have plenty of rage to go around.
- anamax 14y ago
  > Executives of banks and mortgage companies engaged in fraudulent practices that led to the financial crisis. At least some of these practices were "encouraged" if not mandated by govt regulators. Are you planning to punish them? If not, what's the justification for punishing the folks following their orders?
david927 14y ago
It's your constitutional right to assemble. If you get a million people, for example, assembling, you cannot keep the same rules of traffic as usual. (It would be impossible (and the attempt dangerous) to try to keep a million people on the sidewalk.) [Edit: In other words, your constitutional right to turn out and assemble is independent of whether there will be enough space for you on the sidewalk.] As for the Wall Street bankers, who do you want to prosecute for what? Those that committed it, for fraud. It's an open-and-shut case if the power existed to prosecute it.
- tptacek 14y ago
  Cox v. New Hampshire, "reasonable time, place, and manner".
  - david927 14y ago
    Great response! Thanks for that.
  - sp332 14y ago
    As a counter-point, New Hampshire has a Right to Revolution granted in its constitution. It has been used to successfully defend a protestor who cut down a power line at a nuclear plant, and was recently brought up in an OWS case. https://inzanetimes.wordpress.com/2012/02/20/lawyer-for-occupy-nh-activists-asserts-right-to-revolution/ https://inzanetimes.wordpress.com/2012/02/20/lawyer-for-occu...
- andylei 14y ago
  > It's an open-and-shut case if the power existed to prosecute it. if that were true, why are their customers not suing them for fraud? seems like they'd win a lot of money pretty easily if it were an open and shut case.