WHAT ABOUT THE CONSTITUTION?

 

From Juan Cole at Informed Comment:

Not only did the police, at the orders of billionaire mayor Michael Bloomberg, abruptly move on the protesters, they are alleged to have deliberately kept the press away, which is clearly unconstitutional if true.

The US constitution prohibits Congress from restricting the right of citizens to assemble peacefully and to petition for redress of grievances. For a history of the relevant US Supreme Court cases, see this link.

The government is also forbidden to interfere with the workings of the free press, so that the NYPD’s attempt to keep reporters away from the scene of their unprovoked attack on the demonstrators compounds the unconstitutionality of it all.

Read the rest at the link above.

The Republicans bang on about their reverence for the Constitution, but when it comes to ousting OWS demonstrators, well, the Constitution be damned.

Further, in another post at Informed Comment, Cole says:

Oakland Mayor Jean Quan let slip in an interview with the BBC that she had been on a conference call with the mayors of 18 cities about how to deal with the Occupy Wall Street movement. That is, municipal authorities appear to have been conspiring to deprive Americans of their first amendment rights to freedom of assembly and freedom to petition the government for redress of grievances.

Likewise, A Homeland Security official let it slip in a phone interview that the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security had been strategizing with cities on how to shut down OWS protests. The FBI is said to have advised using zoning ordinances and curfew regulations, and to stage the crackdown with massive police force at a time when the press was not around to cover the crackdown.

Why the panicky response to OWS? The heavy-handedness of the police as they attack, drive out, and arrest the protestors will only add to the list of grievances and will likely draw more supporters to stand in solidarity with them and more protestors to join them.

UPDATE: And what about you, Democrats? Last time I heard Obama was a Democrat. What about the Constitution?
(Added in response to comments to the post pointing out my error in not calling the president to account.)