Naomi Wolf wrote in The Guardian, How I was arrested at Occupy Wall Street | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk "Arresting a middle-aged writer in an evening gown for peaceable conduct is a far cry from when America was a free republic"
"On our exit, I saw that the protesters had been cordoned off by a now-massive phalanx of NYPD cops and pinned against the far side of the street – far away from the event they sought to address. I went up and asked them why. They replied that they had been informed that the Huffington Post event had a permit that forbade them to use the sidewalk. I knew from my investigative reporting on NYC permits that this was impossible: a private entity cannot lease the public sidewalks; even film crews must allow pedestrian traffic. I asked the police for clarification – no response."
There's definitely an issue when people don't know their rights and officials pretend they have more authority then they do (often by just being silent on some point). I know of instances of police telling people they can't take photographs in public places (famously this Amtrak incident at Penn Station). There's also all the TSA stuff that goes with this, like this post from January, Fun With the TSA.
The thing to note is that these people knew their rights and knew how to behave with the authorities (I'm complying, I"m not resisting, I don't consent to any search). There's apparently now a 'I'm Getting Arrested' App Inspired By Occupy Wall Street Protests but it's Android only. For the iPhone I know of the ACLU app Your Rights and another called Know Your Rights though for both of those they are info you should read beforehand and there are differences per state that you need to find out.
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