Free Speech Trampled in Standstill
February 15, 2003
There's a peace march scheduled in New York City today. But it will be more
like a peace standstill. Unlike the 602 cities around the globe where
protesters plan to march together to protest a war on Iraq, New York
authorities won't allow it.
The Bloomberg administration made the decision well before last week's
heightened security alert. A federal three-judge panel affirmed it - even
though The New York Times reported a police commander told a federal judge
that he had no reason to expect violence.
The Homeland Security Department alerted the country that there's a
possible threat, but urged Americans to go on with our lives. Anyone
considering marching with 100,000 other people can decide for themselves
whether to take the risk.
But there's more to it than that. The Bush administration - which is in the
midst of trying to sell the war to the public - filed a brief urging the
judges to uphold denial of the permit. And the Bloomberg administration has
no intention of forcing a St. Patrick's Day standstill instead of a parade
- even though it's bigger and likely more raucous.
"The court bought, hook, line and sinker, the undifferentiated-fear
factor," said Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil
Liberties Union, which argued marches are a vital form of free speech.
South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a speaker at the rally said, "I
really cannot believe that a major city in the leading democracy in the
world can refuse people this particular right."
Indeed.
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