I know YANAL etc. I’m curious what the limits are on free speech / free assembly when it comes to protesting (I’m in Suffolk County New York). For example, sometimes I’ll see a group of people protesting outside a shopping plaza or university. Sometimes they are specifically protesting a store, sometimes they are some carpenters union with a giant inflatable rat, sometimes they are abortion protesters, and sometimes they are protesting the war. I notice they usually try to stay away from the stores and parking lot and just stand on the sidewalk by the road. What if it’s a business on a regular street with no parking lot to act as buffer? Could you protest right outside? Is there a threshhold where it becomes illegal - just holding a sign, talking to people, shouting, etc? Can protesters be arrested for loitering? Are there tickets the cops will give you despite it being unconsitutional simply because they don’t think you will bother to fight it?
It’s trespassing, as I understand it. A business has no obligation to let picketers or protesters on their property. They provide a parking lot for customers, not for picketers.
Generally, the cops walk a line between your right as a citizen to protest (‘peacefully assemble and petition for redress of grievances’) and the rights of other citizens to be able to access the business.
If people can’t get thru into the businesses, the cops will likely warn the protestors, and then give them tickets if they don’t respond. Usually for something like ‘obstructing a public sidewalk’.
You see this a lot in labor strikes. The workers set up a picket line, but that is not intended to prevent access to the business. Just to make people aware that they are hurting the workers by patronizing the business, thus the signs & chants. If they do block access, they can indeed be arrested. Of course, if the cops have been bought off by the business, they can find lots of reasons to arrest strikers. But often those arrests won’t stand up in court.