Tuesday, March 24, 2009

July 4th First Amendment Rights March in Silver Spring, Maryland | NowPublic News Coverage

July 4th First Amendment Rights March in Silver Spring, Maryland | NowPublic News Coverage: "Over one hundred people marched today, July 4th, in support of first amendment rights in downtown Silver Spring, Maryland.

The demonstration was prompted by a ban on photography in a quasi-public, quasi-private street, Ellsworth Drive.

The Montgomery County, Maryland government leased Ellsworth Drive in Silver Spring for a dollar a year to a developer, the Peterson Company, giving that company the right to provide security and amenities to Ellsworth Drive, a formerly public street that runs through the heart of Silver Spring. The Peterson Company called Ellsworth Drive 'private property' and prohibited photography."

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Shu Bartholomew sent this, originally published in 2007, to remind us of another dramatic privatization. The Daley privatization of policing in Chicago fits a pattern.

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