Occupy Wall Street and Free Speech

The Takeaway

Does the right to protest include the right to set up camp in downtown Manhattan? When it comes to Occupy Wall Street  and protesters in Zuccotti Park, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg doesn’t think so. “The Constitution doesn’t protect tents,” he said at a news conference earlier this week in Queens. “It protects speech and assembly.”  Mayor Bloomberg also suggested that those exercising a “right to be silent” might be having their rights trampled by the constant noise coming from the demonstrations in their tent city.   Jeffrey Rosen,  professor at George Washington University Law School, says the  Constitution is on the side of the protesters.

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