Contrary to Occupiers’ claims, camping is not a First Amendment right

From Hot Air

As I reported Jan. 18, California Republican Rep. Darrell Issa’s House Oversight Committee has asked for answers to the question of why D.C. Occupiers were allowed to camp indefinitely in a public park. Given that D.C. has a no-camping-in-public-places law in place, the question might better be phrased: Why were D.C. Occupiers allowed to break the law?

Yesterday, Issa’s Committee received testimony from National Park Service officials, who said they plan to enforce the no-camping law soon — but that they won’t evict the Occupiers except in emergency circumstances. I’m at a loss as to how they plan to enforce the law without enforcing the law, but let’s set that aside for a moment to focus on something even more interesting. The National Park Service officials — and, not surprisingly, the Occupiers themselves — claim the protesters have a First Amendment right to squat in a public place. The NPS officials cited decades of case law that has allowed protesters to host 24-hour vigils on parkland.

Read the rest here.