From the same guy who brought you last summer’s photography protest, it’s the ongoing clash between private mall managers and public space.
On Friday evening, Silver Spring resident Chip Py was asked by private security guards to stop distributing political-campaign material along Ellsworth Drive in Downtown Silver Spring.
“I handed out about four fliers, and sure enough, a security guard came over and told me I could not do this,” Py emailed The Penguin. The guard’s supervisor and the shopping center’s manager gave him the same line, he added.
It wasn’t Py’s first run-in with guards along that street. Last summer, guards asked Py to stop snapping pics on Ellsworth Drive near a tunnel leading to the Wayne Avenue garage. The problem: Photography was restricted in the shopping center.
And that’s when it all came out. Though the county owns the street, the Peterson Cos. leases it and sets policies on the space’s use. One policy restricts shutterbugs to “respectful photography” that considers patrons’ privacy and doesn’t block walkways, company spokesman IJ Hudson told The Penguin last July.
However, a July 30 memo from assistant county attorney Nowelle Ghahhari argued that Ellsworth Drive was a “public forum” where unfettered speech, assembly and even photography were permissible under the First Amendment.
The Peterson Cos. responded at the time by saying it would review its policies to “meet both the developers’ obligations to the county and the needs of the entire community, including the First Amendment rights of our patrons and other visitors.”
But when Py showed the legal-eagle memo to a mall manager on Friday, she could only photocopy the letter, Py said.
“She didn’t understand why I was so angry,” wrote Py, who admitted to raising his voice during the exchange. “We are in the middle of a very important election, and I didn’t take four days off from work to move backwards as far as civil rights on Ellsworth Drive goes.”
IJ Hudson was not available for comment before press time. And there were no photos of the incident.
Photo: Local shutterbug Chip Py (center) during a Jul 4, 2007, protest down Ellsworth Drive in the Downtown Silver Spring shopping center. Courtesy of Free Our Streets.
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This is getting ridiculous. We have the no-free speech zone on Hellsworth.
So this is the new Silver Spring that people were hoping for, huh?
I think everyone should show up tomorrow (Primary Day) at Ellsworth Street and hold up political signs. Bring buttons and wear stickers. Seriously. Bring your Hillary, Obama, McCain, Huckabee and Ron Paul signs. Democrats and Republicans should be outraged at Peterson’s disregard for the US Constitution.
IHY: Amen!
It’s worth emphasizing that the memo isn’t a binding ruling – it’s just a legal opinion. There hasn’t been any real test of this in court.
FWIW, I would like it if the county expressly wrote in protections for free speech in the next lease – it certainly seems like the area is a good place for it. Indeed, it would have been nice to have places specifically set aside for this purpose (but not exclusively!).
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. I don’t even care if ellsworth drive WAS owned by Peterson Co – they operate it as a public space and hence it should be considered defacto public space and be operated as such, with all the rights that come along with that. Ellsworth drive has become DTSS’s “public square” in the absense of another one, and Peterson Co has benefited from the many customers that it being treated as such brings – it also comes with the requirement to treat it like that, with respect for people’s rights.
Granted – as stated, it’s never been tested in court. But I think Peterson would be wise not to let it get to that – I should hope they would lose. Chip Py deserves the residents of downtown’s applause for once again testing this violation of our rights.
Chip is an old college roommate he is one the best guys you will ever meet. Bravo Chip, you really know how to put on a show!