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Thousands of protestors have been occupying Wall Street since mid-September, but now similar
demonstrations have spread across the country, even right here in our own back yard. Kiener
Plaza in downtown St. Louis. Here with his thoughts on just what exactly is happening
down there and the legality of it all is Andy Crouppen from Brown and Crouppen. Andy? I
hear you've got a vantage point on this one.
You know, I think that this is a movement that is largely misunderstood and protrayed
as having a lack of message, or not a clear and concise message. And I think what is happening,
you know, what it would be like if you took an automobile and said, well what the hell
is that for? Is that a place we go to sit to cool down or heat up using the heating
and air conditioning? Is this a storage facility, where you put your stuff in the trunk, or
is this something that we get from Point A to Point B in? You know, it is all of the
above, but primarily it is a way to get from Point A to Point B.
Right. It could be used for all of those things, but it is really for travel.
Right. So to misunderstand the automobile is to misunderstand the movement. The movement
is clear. It is saying that 1% of the population roughly that makes a million dollars a year
or more and controls 90%-plus of the wealth in this country, along with the politicians,
many of which are part of that 1%, are making policy and governing to largely affect how
the 1% live and ignoring how the 99% live.
I will admit. It is very interesting to watch this unfold, because protests are nothing
new in the United States. That is part of our heritage. This hearkens back for a lot
of folks to the 60s and the 70s and the Vietnam era, but in the world of social media, this
is very, very different: They way they communicate, the way they are able to convey their message.
It is very differnet today.
This could not have been done probably 3 years ago, and I think what happened is we saw the
Arab Spring and now this is summer and we are calling it The American Fall. I don't
know this is going to end tomorrow, or if this is has gotten big to the point in so
many cities -- I think in 1000 cities -- that it can no longer be ignored. I think the message
is clear if people want to hear the message. I think it has been going on long enough that
if you see reports in the newspaper or the media that says the message isn't clear, I
think those people haven't taken the time to just go to the website and read one or
two sentences about what the message is. Sure, there are tangential issues. Sure, there are
people holding up signs that don't have the exact primary message, but I think that there
is a lot that goes along with that when you have this much turmoil in our economy.
We have to talk to you about the legal issues surrounding this. There was one night last
week where there was a city curfew, apparently, in public parks. Protesters were warned, "If
you're not out of here by X o'clock, there will be some arrests made, we will have to
remove you." And sure enough, quite peacefully, that is exactly what happened. Is the city
within their rights to do that? Does a group like this have to have a permit to stage a
protest like this?
Sure. Freedom of speech is not absolute, meaning you can't say anything you want, any time,
any place. They have the right to make restrictions that do not restrict your speech, they just
sort of restrict sometimes reasonably where you do it. For instance, there is a 10:00
curfew. They absolutely have the right to say, "You know what? After 10 p.m., you can't
be here." But what the police have done, they have allowed people to just kind of leave
that littel ampitheater area and go up on the sidewalk, and that is fine. So it was
a reasonable accommodation to make. And what I think happened is that the arrests were
made over a curfew violation. They are misdemeanor offenses, not a big deal, usually resolved
with a fine. Nothing you have to report to an employer that is really going to effect
you long term.
So in this case, the legal system and system that allows you to voice your opinion seem
to be working.
Yeah.
Okay. In harmony in St. Louis.
Yes. And in most places I think the police feel like their being represented by the 99%
and in many cases, they are working with the people very peacefully and trying to make
things go smoothly.
I even heard sound bites from protestors saying that the police are just trying to do their
job. So year, they are kind of lumped together.
If you have a legal question for Brown and Crouppen, you can e-mail us...