Suburban NY county considers letting police sue protesters

[demmiblue]

MINEOLA, N.Y. (AP) — Lawmakers in a suburban New York county are set to vote Monday on a proposal that would allow police officers to sue protesters and collect financial damages — a move civil rights activists say is payback for demonstrations after the police killing of George Floyd last year in Minneapolis.

Newsday reports that the bill being considered by the Nassau County Legislature would make police officers and other first responders a protected class under the county’s Human Rights Law, which currently bars discrimination based on race, religion, gender and sexual orientation. No other professions are protected under the Human Rights Law.

The bill would allow a lawyer for the Long Island county to sue protesters on behalf of officers and calls for fines of up to $25,000 for anyone who harasses, menaces or injures an officer. The fine amount would be doubled if the offending behavior happened “in the course of participating in a riot,” the bill says.

Civil rights lawyer Frederick Brewington told reporters Friday that the bill violates free speech rights and, if passed, will have a chilling effect on protesters. The NAACP said it will bring members to Monday’s vote.

https://apnews.com/article/religion-police-george-floyd-race-and-ethnicity-racial-injustice-bc81655336434434240cf9ae343a07f1

[Bev54]

1. Oh good, yeah encourage more litigation because the country

doesn't get enough of it.

[Crunchy Frog]

2. I don't see how that would be constitutional.

Punishing people for protesting agents of the state.

[msongs]

3. organized crime strikes back nt

[XanaDUer2]

4. This is nutty nt

[Casady1]

5. Mineola is halfway

out on Long Island. Nothing is happening there.

[tishaLA]

6. They're already doing this in Utah

19-Year-Old Protester Stomped On A 'Back The Blue' Sign. She Faces Hate Crime Charges
https://www.npr.org/2021/07/15/1016431004/a-woman-is-facing-a-hate-crime-charge-for-stomping-on-a-back-the-blue-sign-in-ut

It seems patently unconstitutional to me, but treating cops as a protected class hasn't reached a court that's willing to say so yet. But how in the fuck can a public servant be a protected class?