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Editorial It wasn't a scene you'd expect in a courtroom in a great democracy. The fact that there needed to be a hearing at all to determine whether or not war protesters have the right to march past the United Nations or even anywhere south of 59th Street is alarming in and of itself. City officials even had the gall to argue that police couldn't handle such a large crowd, and the mayor said the city couldn't afford it. Both contentions are disingenuous. Police handle large crowds dozens of times a year. Can you imagine the mayor saying he couldn't afford to police next month's St. Patrick's Day Parade or that the NYPD wasn't up to the task? And what does that say about the city's ability to plan for an unscheduled terrorist attack? A police chief who testified at the hearing even blurted out that the city couldn't effectively plan for the march, because officials didn't know "who" was coming. No, it seems the purpose of the city's action is to suppress dissent plain and simple. The proof of that was the unusual presence of federal prosecutors at the hearing -- as if there was something to prosecute. It seemed to many New Yorkers a foregone conclusion that the judge would rule in favor of United for Peace and Justice, the group organizing the demonstration -- a clear cut case of freedom of speech and assembly. They were wrong. The judge ruled in favor of the city. The protesters are still being given a permit for a stationary rally, and the judge and the mayor held that up as proof that freedom of speech is alive and well. Tell that to tens or hundreds of thousands of citizens who will likely be penned up block by block behind police barricades in the frigid cold, unable to move for hours or even hear the rally speakers. United for Peace and Justice is appealing the ruling. We hope the judge hearing the case has a better understanding of the Constitution. There was another alarming courtroom development this week. A judge granted the city's request to eliminate most of the restriction of the Police Department's Handschu commission, which prevented the department in most situations from investigating lawful political activity. We are of course still a democracy, but no citizen should assume that it will always be that way. That's not the way democracies stay democracies. It is inaction in the face of a gradual, subtle erosion of rights that most threatens the form of government we cherish. To some, it may seem like a small price to pay for protection in a post 9/11 world. But it's exactly at a time like this when the strength and worth of our civil liberties is tested. It's up to each and every citizen of this democracy to make sure we pass that test.
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