General Discussion

Reasonable people can agree that there is a major difference between defending an action and explaining the legal reality of why it happened.

As a matter of constitutional law, the courts have consistently ruled that local governments are legally permitted to enforce content-neutral time limits on public comment. When a speaker refuses to vacate the podium after their time expires, it legally shifts from a matter of political speech to a standard time-and-place restriction.

Calling it "copspeak" doesn't change the fact that this is how the statute works.

As I stated before, the town's handling of this entire corporate development was completely unacceptable public governance. But ignoring the actual legal mechanics of how a trespass charge is triggered doesn't help us hold incompetent local officials accountable.