December 2011 - Parks & Recreation - 27

Who, What, Where & hoW around the Parks

Occupy wall Street will be indelibly identified with public parks-the
public places that are the most traditional forums for the expression of
first Amendment free speech rights.

e S S Ay

Occupational Hazards

Administrators and advocates of parks feel caught between the
First Amendment and concern for the health of their parks.
By richard J. dolesh

Photo coPyright © 2011 tom giebel

F

or the past several months
the news has been dominated by daily coverage of the
continuing protests of the
Occupy Wall Street movement. Inspired by a campaign devised
by a Canadian-based protest group, the
Adbusters Media Foundation, Occupy
Wall Street (OWS) has spread like a prairie fi re and now claims encampments in
2,500 cities and communities worldwide.
Identified by the slogan " We are the 99
percent " to express opposition to growing economic and social inequality, the
movement appeared to spontaneously
adopt one highly visible and provocative
tactic upon forming-camping in public
parks. Originally of concern only to parks
administrators, Occupy encampments
have now attracted worldwide media attention and could even become a catalyst

that topples some elected officials. The
movement has confounded pundits and
Sunday-show talking heads because of its
leaderless and apparently disorganized
approach. Yet the protests have had robust public support and show little sign of
diminishing even as winter approaches.
Far from novelty status, OWS has
shown resilience and creativity. In many
cities, local elected officials in exasperation have called on protestors to elect a
leader or identify someone with whom
the political and law enforcement structure can negotiate. But in Denver, Occupy protesters elected Shelby, a 3-year old
border collie as their leader because she
" exhibits heart, warmth and an appreciation for the group over personal ambition that Occupy Denver members feel
are sorely lacking in the leaders some of
them have voted for. "

Regardless of the politics of OWS, it
has been fascinating to see how public
parks became the instant and identifiable
gathering place for the expression of First
Amendment free speech rights. Virtually
overnight, dozens if not hundreds of public parks were " occupied " by protestors
across America.
The long and rich history and legal
precedent for public parks as " traditional public forums, " has been identified and
protected by the U.S. Supreme Court for
the expression of First Amendment rights.
In fact, this may be one reason so much
deference has been accorded OWS
protestors in allowing them to continue
their occupation of parks. Many elected officials and mayors have publicly
expressed support for the free speech
rights of OWS protestors and exerted
considerable effort to appear supportive

w w w . N R P A . O R G    D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 1    Parks

& Recreation

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December 2011 - Parks & Recreation

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