Paul Levinson on Unconstitutionality of Bloomberg's Clearing Zuccotti Park
Channel: Paul Levinson
Date: 2011-11-16

I talk to Chuck Scarborough on NY Night News the evening of the day Mayor Michael Bloomberg unconstitutionally called in police to clear Zuccotti Park and prevented media from covering this: a violation of the First Amendment (freedom of press) to cover up a violation of the First Amendment (freedom to peaceably assemble).  More at http://paullevinson.blogspot.com/2011/11/mayor-bloombergs-poor-understanding-of.html and http://paullevinson.blogspot.com/2011/11/violation-of-first-amendment-to-cover.html

Subtitles (English) by Claude Almansi

0:00 0:03
[Chuck Scarborough] Joining us now to talk about today's events is Paul Levinson
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He is professor of communication and media studies at Fordham University. We thank you for being here, Professor.
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[Paul Levinson] Good to be here. 
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[Scarborough] You're not very happy with the Mayor today. Why not?
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[Levinson] He shows an appalling ignorance of the First Amendment
 0:13 0:18
or maybe he is not ignorant and he's choosing to willfully misunderstand it.
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He issued a statement that said: "The First Amendment pertains just to free speech."
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Apparently, he is unaware that it also restricts the government
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from interfering with freedom of the press, and freedom to peacefully assemble.
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And yet, as you mentioned, the media were prevented from covering
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what the Mayor and his police did earlier this morning.
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There was at least one NPR reporter who was hurt by police.
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The police, by the way, can't seem to disperse a crowd without hurting someone -
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[Scarborough] Well, there were no serious injuries and, you know,
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there was a lot - there was a bit of resistance going on: we've heard of the police
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they had to clear a lot of people who tried to - to not be cleared out.
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[Levinson] Well, but not from this NPR reporter, who was merely covering the story.
1:00 1:03
Furthermore, what does "peaceable assemble" mean?
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Last time I looked at the First Amendment I didn't see an expiration date in there.
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Now, obviously, no one would expect anyone to be allowed to protest forever,
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but two months is a lot less than forever.
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[Scarborough] Do you think that peaceably assemble , or the right of people
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to peaceably assemble to air their grievances, as framed in the Constitution,
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gives them the right to pitch tents, to make encampments in that park?
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[Levinson] As long as those encampments don't endanger or hurt anyone, absolutely yes,
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Because an assemblage is not something that has to take place just in an hour, or even in a day.
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And as a matter of fact, if you look at assemblages over the years,
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many times, people have petitioned government for weeks at a time.
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So, I think it's perfectly reasonable to allow people to stay there
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as long as there is no violence, as long as they don't hurt anybody.
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[Scarborough] There was a collision of rights, here, wasn't there? In Zuccotti Park?
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The collision of property owners' rights with the rights of the protestors to peaceably assemble,
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the collision the home owners' rights to enjoy the quiet enjoyment of their property in the area?
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[Levinson] Let's say someone lives in a home, and someone moves in next door,
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and you don't like that person's face,
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or you don't like the color of their house, you don't like the color it's painted,
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you don't like the music that you hear when you walk by.
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You don't like the fact that they have a dog that barks occasionally.
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Does that person have the right to insist that the other person move out?
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So no: I think clearly our country is based on an understanding
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that people have rights to express themselves as long as they don't hurt other people.
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If Bloomberg was so confident, why didn't he go to court beforehand?
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There wasn't some emergency that was erupting that the police had to be called in
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like thieves in the dark of night when no one could see what was happening.
2:58 3:04
And it is true that later this afternoon, a very low-level judge agreed with the Mayor,
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but you know, I remember, in the Pentagon Papers case,
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there was a New York judge who supported Nixon, and -
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[Scarborough] You predicted that the Mayor would be overturned in court, and he wasn't today.
3:13 3:17
[Levinson] Well, not today, but thank goodness, we have higher levels of court.
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[Scarborough] Alright, Professor, thank you for coming, we appreciate it.
3:19 3:19
[Levinson] My pleasure.