July 19, 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
media@aclu.org NEW
YORK -- The New York Civil Liberties Union today criticized a New York City
Police Department plan to expand police control over protest activity, pledging
to call on the New York City Council to block the proposed regulations if the
plan is not abandoned.
"This proposal will suffocate spontaneous
protest activity and inevitably lead to police micromanagement of sidewalk
protests," said NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman. "It is completely at
odds with New York City's proud tradition of free expression, and if the police
department insists on moving forward with it then we will ask the city council
to block it."
The proposed regulations would dramatically expand
the NYPD definition of a parade to include any group of 35 or more people
wishing to march on a public sidewalk or any group of 20 or more people wishing
to ride or drive on pubic streets. According to the proposal that was
published quietly by the police department on Monday, groups meeting this
definition would have to obtain a permit from the police. Sidewalk marches and
lawful vehicle processions are activities that have never required permits
before.
"This would be a dramatic and unnecessary expansion of
police control over protest activity," said NYCLU Associate Legal Director
Christopher Dunn. "Requiring groups that are doing nothing more than walking on
public sidewalks to obtain police permits will suppress protest activity and
lead to wholly unnecessary conflict between police and
protesters."
The NYCLU has a long history of representing groups
that conduct sidewalk marches or lawful vehicle or bicycle processions. If new
rules forced people to obtain permits, those groups y would have to negotiate
the details of their events with police officials and would face the risk of
arrest if they did not agree to law enforcement demands. In many cases,
the NYCLU believes, the groups would abandon their protest plans rather
than face the risk of arrest.
