Community Groups protest Nassau police protection bill

From Long Island United to transform policing and community safety Facebook page

Black and brown community groups on Monday are planning to protest a bill being considered by the county legislature that would amend the county's Human Rights law to include police officers and other first responders as a protected class.

The bill would prohibit discriminatory actions against any first responder, impose fines as much as $25,000 per violation,  and open the alleged perpetrators to civil lawsuits for damages.

From the Hempestead Branch of NAACP

The prohibited acts are defined as harrassing, menacing, injuring or assaulting a first responder  because they are a first responder.

If the first responder is in uniform,  or otherwise clearly identified, there would be "an irrebuttable presumption" that such discriminatory acts are motivated by the first responders' status.

Legis. Joshua Lafazan of Woodbury, who is not affiliated with a political party but caucuses and votes with the Democrats, introduced the bill. Democratic legis. Delia DeRiggi-Whitton of Glen Cove, Ellen Birnbaum of Great Neck and Arnold Drucker of Plainview are co-sponsors.

Community groups that banded together to propose a community policing plan and other law enforcement reforms are strongly opposed to the bill. They include LI United to Transform Policing and Community Safety, the Hempstead branch of the NAACP and Long Island Advocates for Police Accountability.

LI United to Transform Policing has posted several complaints on its Facebook page.

Tracey Edwards. the Long Island regional director for the NAACP,  and civil rights lawyer Fred Brewington, on behalf of Long Island Advocates for Police Accountability, wrote a letter to county legislators, insisting the bill be withdrawn.

"This is an unprecedented, unnecessary, and
unconstitutional hijacking of our anti-discrimination law, previously used only to protect those that have faced historical persecution based upon their immutable characteristics," they wrote. "Passing this bill will bring national shame and embarrassment to Nassau County, invite litigation, and leave an indelible stain on the institution of the Nassau County Legislature by laying the foundation for the creation of a police state. "

Republicans, who traditionally are pro-police, said earlier this month that they support the bill. Legis. Siela Bynoe (D-Westbury) questioned the intent of the law; particularly the definition of  harassment and menacing.

Nobody should physically assault a police officer, Bynoe said, at a meeting of the legislature's public safety committee.

But she said that peaceful protestors who yell insults as they pass police officers should not be considered guilty of discrimination and face lawsuits, requiring them to pay for legal representation.

She noted the many protests following George Floyd's death.

"Some of those peaceful protests may have been seriously annoying," Bynoe said. 

But "I don’t want to see at any point in time when there is no physical attack against  a police officer that leads somebody into civil court."

Lafazan said, "The intent is that it was absolutely outrageous to witness officers protecting us in a the line of duty, being assaulted, menaced and harassed across the nation. It's outrageous. Our officers protect the human rights of all people.The intent of this bill is to protect them so they can protect us."

Lafazan said the law includes the same definitions that are in the state's penal code.

The penal code essentially describes harassment as someone intentionally and repeatedly following a person in and about public places and engages in a course of conduct or repeatedly commits acts that put the person in fear of physical injury and death.

Nobody mentioned the First Amendment at the committee meetings. But it seems the proposed law could violate free speech rights. Insults and cat-calling are legal so long as nobody is physically harmed.

Bynoe abstained from voting on the bill in committee. It is now expected to be heard by the full legislature on Monday. To date, no amendments have been filed. 

The next question is whether County Executive Laura Curran, a Democrat running for re-election this November, will sign or veto the bill if the legislature approves it.