BILL NUMBER:S3194

TITLE  OF BILL:   An act to amend the general municipal law, in relation
to local governing board approval of policies and  procedures  affecting
public use of public space

PURPOSE  OR  GENERAL  IDEA OF BILL:  This bill allows for the review and
final approval of rules and regulations regarding parades or the  public
use  of  public  space  by  the  governing  board  of such city, town or
village.

SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:   This bill adds section  124-a  of  the
general  municipal law, by requiring final approval by the local govern-
ing board of a city, town, or village for all  policies  and  procedures
regarding the issuance of parade permits or other permits for the tempo-
rary use of public space by the public, and no other unelected body.

JUSTIFICATION:    The  New  York  City Police Department (NYPD) recently
revised the New York City Parades Rules to require that any gathering of
50 or more bikes or pedestrians will be required to obtain a permit from
NYPD or they would be subject to arrest.  The  revision  was  instituted
without  any  public  input  following  public outcry against the NYPD's
original proposal requiring any gathering of 10  or  more  to  obtain  a
permit.    This  is troubling for two very relevant and strong constitu-
tional reasons.

              

The right of free expression, including the right to  gather  in  public
places,  is  one  that  is  deeply engrained and firmly enshrined in the
history and constitution of the country and state. The  right  was  most
cogently defined in the 1939 Supreme Court decision Hague v. C.I.0., 307
U.S.  496,  515-16  in  which  the  Court  stated "Wherever the title of
streets and parks may rest, they have immemorially been  held  in  trust
for  the  use  of  the  public and, time out of mind, have been used for
purposes of  assembly,  communicating  thoughts  between  citizens,  and
discussing  public questions. Such use of streets and public places has,
from ancient times, been a part of the privileges,  immunities,  rights,
and liberties of citizens.

Secondly,  both  the  U.s.  and New York State constitution drew a clear
line of demarcation between those  who  make  the  laws  and  those  who
enforce  them.  It is the stated duty of the elected legislative body to
make the rules and the stated duty of elected and appointed  members  of
the  judiciary, and by extension law enforcement officials, to interpret
and enforce those laws. It seems highly  inappropriate,  therefore,  for
the same body (in this case, the NYPD) to be endowed with both the power
to enforce the rules and the power to make them.

PRIOR  LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:   2011-12: S.1181/A.4379 - Referred to Local
Government 2009-10: S.8349/A.3567A - Referred to Rules 2007-08: A.8087

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS: None to state.

EFFECTIVE DATE:   This act shall take effect  on  the  180th  day  after
becoming a law.