Retired professor arrested for blocking delivery robots in Philadelphia
Carolyn Marvin, 78, was cited for disorderly conduct after repeatedly impeding Uber Eats autonomous delivery vehicles as a protest against labor displacement and privacy concerns.
What to know
- A 78-year-old retired communications professor was arrested for blocking Uber Eats delivery robots as a form of protest against labor displacement, public safety hazards, and privacy concerns from embedded cameras.
- Marvin views her actions as a protected First Amendment protest and says she intends to continue blocking robots when she encounters them.
- Philadelphia police cited her for disorderly conduct, treating the act of impeding the robot as criminal mischief despite Marvin's argument that she was obstructing a machine, not a person.
Carolyn Marvin Retired University of Pennsylvania communications professorUber Eats Autonomous delivery robot operatorPhiladelphia Police Law enforcement
How it unfolded 1 development · click the chart to see its coverage posts
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CNN profiles Marvin's arrest and stated intent to continue blocking robots
CNN publishes Marvin's account of her arrest and her articulated reasons for the protest: displacement of delivery workers, public safety hazards from robots on sidewalks, and privacy concerns from embedded cameras. Marvin states she views the action as a First Amendment protest and intends to continue if the opportunity arises.
“I also think that I have a First Amendment right to protest the abuses of corporations in public space, in the same public space that the robots are occupying.”
— Carolyn Marvin -
first by The Times of India, 12d ago · also HN Frontpage, Times of India, Independent UK, CTV News, CNN, The Oregonian
5 more headlines
- Retired professor arrested for blocking delivery robot. Will do it again HN Frontpage · 12d ago
- Philly professor arrested for blocking delivery robots says she'd do it again Times of India · 12d ago
- 78-year-old former college professor arrested for blocking delivery robot in protest Independent UK · 12d ago
- This retired professor was arrested for blocking a delivery robot. She says she’ll do it again Mastodon · 12d ago
- A retired professor’s one-woman protest against delivery robots The Oregonian · 10d ago
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"This retired professor was arrested for blocking a delivery robot.....a habit for the 78-year-old “I was under the impression that I had more rights than the robot did,” “Well, you got a disorderly conduct charge for impeding capitalism.” criminal mischief....."we’ve surrendered the streets to cars long ago, and I don’t think we should surrender…
2 more of the top 3 · 24 posts in this stretch
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These robots are all over the place around here. They use the sidewalks, but beyond that they need space for deployment and space to wait while idle. They don’t just pop out from a little tiny door like in Star Wars.In my old neighborhood they had a forward operating base in an empty lot along a moderately busy street, one with plenty of foot…
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“laws are threats made by the dominant socio-economic, ethnic group in a given nation. It's just a promise of violence that's enacted and police are basically an occupying army”
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background
Carolyn Marvin arrested for blocking delivery robot — After repeatedly blocking delivery robots as an informal protest, Marvin was arrested while standing in front of a robot in a busy part of Philadelphia. Police responded to a report of "criminal mischief involving a delivery robot" and issued her a citation for disorderly conduct.
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background
Uber Eats launches self-driving robot delivery in Philadelphia — Uber Eats began operating its autonomous delivery robot fleet in Philadelphia, making it the fourth city to receive the service. The wheeled robots deliver food orders via sidewalk navigation.
What people are saying 21 voices from 2 sites · best of 24 · verbatim
- Nov 1
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Reminds me of the story of a man attacking a store robot in Japan.Drunk man attacks adorable robot that was just trying to help (2015) https://www.wired.com/story/drunk-man-attacks-pepper-robot-i...Figgn robots
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“Well, you got a disorderly conduct charge for impeding capitalism.” Retired professor was arrested for blocking a delivery robot https://www. ctvnews.ca/world/article/this- retired-professor-was-arrested-for-blocking-a-delivery-robot-she-says-shell-do-it-again/
- Oct 31
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https://www. ctvnews.ca/world/article/this- retired-professor-was-arrested-for-blocking-a-delivery-robot-she-says-shell-do-it-again/
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> Before jaywalking was a thing... jay driving was a thing first.I would suspect safety had more to do with it than anything else. The closest I've ever personally come to hitting someone was because they jaywalked directly in front of my car, after walking between two parked vans so they were not visible until they strode right out in front of…
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> Before jaywalking was a thing, newspapers blamed drivers for accidents, assuming people had the right to walk anywhere (as they always had) and cars needed to yield.This is not the full story, even before cars came into common use, society had to figure out how to manage pedestrians coexisting with horses and carriages on public roadways.Eg…
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Is your position that the outcome is strictly a result of the marketing campaign?As car ownership increased, it seems possible that norms would change a bit.
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No way her name is actually Marvin? What a perfect coincidence! Is "Marvin" destined to become the robot age's answer to "Karen"? :-) Those poor souls, forever tormented by their aching diodes...
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She was pretty restrained. Erlich Bachman's way of dealing with the robot deer might be the future.I wonder why children haven't discovered a "block the robot" game yet and score points for the longest blockade. Maybe they aren't allowed to go outside in the US.
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The real story hidden somewhere down below> In the aftermath of her arrest, Marvin has found out more about the legal infrastructure that protects robots. In 2020, the Pennsylvania legislature passed a law that classifies autonomous delivery robots — what the law calls “personal delivery devices” — as pedestrians, not vehicles. Democrats, along…
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In the 1920s, "jay" was a slur similar to "country bumpkin" — an unsophisticated person who didn't understand the city. As cars became more common, the term "jaywalker" emerged, and the auto industry's PR arm seized on it and eventually helped it codify into law. Before jaywalking was a thing, newspapers blamed drivers for accidents, assuming…
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There's a difference between not giving way to a robot vs spending 10-15 minutes actively blocking it.Yes, we're going to quickly come to a head on the issue of robots on sidewalks, much like we have with e-scooters, or Google's ill-fated bikes.The robots open a new possibility on an existing system (sidewalks), which is going to lead to problems…
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I work in Philly where this happened. I consider myself a pretty mild mannered person, but even I get an urge to kick these things while walking home during rush hour on busy sidewalks lol. They are mostly harmless though
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The first step to improving something is to show there’s a problem in the first place. For those who believe sidewalks are for people, she has demonstrated that there is a problem.
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Sorry, the commons are the exclusive domain of private corporate profit, not for humans to occupy.
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When people protest by bringing out the guillotine it is of course too violent and unbridled. When they block bridges then there are ambulances people might die in. When they pour paint on art it destroys priceless works. Now, when someone delays the Uber robot, it causes someone to get their lunch cold. One wonders if effective protest can only…
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I don’t want robots on the sidewalk because I guarantee they won’t move out of the way of people jogging, kids riding bikes, older people, etc. They’re moving obstacles. Delivery drones are a more respectful option, as long as they’re quiet like the Zipline ones Walmart uses.
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While I agree on the surface this seems pretty annoying in general. But deeper, she was able to accomplish 10000000x more than just posting an angry post on the internet about these bots. Unfortunately however, sometimes people are just seeking attention. We'll have to see where it goes.
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It sounds more like she was arrested for not following an order given by the police officer to move out of the way of the robot.
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What this woman is allowed to do makes up a complex topic; there are arguments in all directions. But if her scheme for improving the world involves foremost delaying some people's lunch then she should put some time into coming up with a better plan. Ginning up attention by being unusually petty isn't going to be the path to world peace and…
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# CNN # News This retired professor was arrested for blocking a delivery robot. She says she’ll do it again
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https://www. europesays.com/us/1155793/ Philadelphia woman arrested for blocking a delivery robot says she’ll do it again # America # ctt # PA # pennsylvania # Philadelphia # UnitedStates # UnitedStatesOfAmerica # UnitedStates # UnitedStatesofAmerica # US # USA