Law concerning harassment v.s. free speech – at what point is the law broken?
Posted by admin on Jan 29, 2010
We have a radical political group parked outside the entrance to our local grocery store. The manager (who is a nice guy) said the top company guys say the store cannot do anything, because it’s free speech. And even though the store itself is sort of private property, there’s something about public access so the store cannot through these people off the property.
They are getting many complaints from the customers, because these people are not just silently sitting at a table offering brochures – they have posters depicting (in a disgusting way) the prominent public figure/subject of their fury (I don’t want to go into the details because I do not want a political debate here), they yell at the customers and they are following some to their cars.
So far the police, who have been called, have said there is nothing they can do.
At what point, where is the line that has to be crossed, for these guys to be breaking the law, and hopefully then they can be removed?
If a little old lady has mace, and uses it on some guy in her face or almost in her car, is SHE the one in trouble?
They should not be allowed to block access to the store or bother the customers. If someone takes action against a protester, they should not get into trouble if they feel they were emanate danger If it continues to get more aggressive tell your store owner to get a lawyer
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090618/ap_on_re_us/us_parking_lot_noose_attack
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you be the judge..
They should not be allowed to block access to the store or bother the customers. If someone takes action against a protester, they should not get into trouble if they feel they were emanate danger If it continues to get more aggressive tell your store owner to get a lawyer
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I don’t know at which point the law is broken. I’m afraid the little old lady could get in trouble in some areas! My only suggestion is to contact the mayor or council people for the area where the store is located and see what they recommend. Maybe they can mediate the situation to the satisfaction of the protesters and the customers, as well as the store and its employees.
We’ve have union picketers outside one of my local grocery stores for over 2 years now – ever since the physical building changed from a union grocery to a different chain that is non-union. But they never bother anyone. They just carry their picket signs. But your situation is totally different since the group is very verbal and "almost" abusive about a subject that has nothing to do with the store.
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