Compared to many shorelines in the area, Brownie’s Beach in Calvert County, Maryland, is small. But to people like Brenden Leydon, the beach, which is currently off-limits to non-residents, represents something much bigger.
“It’s a First Amendment issue,” he said.
Leydon was refused access to Greenwich Point Park in Connecticut in the mid-1990s because it was open to residents only. A law student at the time, Leydon filed a court challenge testing the constitutional bounds of the beach ban.
“Beaches are just a subset of parks,” he explained. “Streets and sidewalks are deemed quintessential public forums for people to communicate on whatever they want to.”
In other words, by closing off a park or a beach, he said Greenwich was violating his freedom of speech. In 2001, the Supreme Court of Connecticut agreed, issuing an opinion stating: “We conclude that such a restriction is prohibited by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.” The court also found the restriction was in violation of several articles of the Connecticut constitution.
That’s why Leydon was interested to see the News4 I-Team’s recent report about what’s happening now in Chesapeake Beach.
Source: NBC Washington
