The Association of the Bar of the City of New York, an organization of more than 22,000 attorneys, has issued a 16 page statement on the NYPD's proposed Parade Permitting regulations which is highly critical of the proposal and calls for the City Council, and not the NYPD, to address the issue. The statement is to be presented at the public hearing on November 27th.

For a full copy of the full statement click HERE.

Addressing the proposed rules the statement proclaims that "if adopted, these revisions would impose dramatic new restrictions on peaceful protests and other public gatherings in New York City - means of expression that are a cornerstone of our democratic system...[T]he Association firmly believes that, given the importance of the issues presented, it is the responsibility of the City Council to define a parade and to establish the criteria for issuing parade permits. Such a critical determination should not be relegated to a rulemaking or ad hoc decision making by the New York City Police Department.

The Bar Association Statement contains a detailed description of the legal issues involved in parade permitting, and lists numerous examples of instances in which courts have ordered that permits be granted after they were denied by the police. Additionally the statement cites the Critical Mass bike rides as "a particularly glaring example of the failures of the existing parade regulations and the NYPD's implementation of them."