New York Tramples Bill of Rights to Protect 'Grass'?: "even in a war on terror, political protest is not a 'privilege.' It's a basic right.
'The right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances,' is part of the Bill of Rights, which the Founders drafted more than two centuries ago to persuade the states to ratify the Constitution.
If Bloomberg has forgotten that, regrettably, he has plenty of company. In a nationwide poll conducted earlier this year for the Freedom Forum's First Amendment Center and American Journalism Review, only 10% of respondents could name the right of assembly and free association as one of those guaranteed by the First Amendment.
After the oppression of British colonial rule, those were among the rights the Revolution was fought for. They're still worth defending. Protecting municipal grass is a thin excuse for mowing down those rights. "
- posted by geoff @ #