78-year-old professor is still blocking delivery robots weeks after her arrest: ‘It’s my First Amendment right’
Marvin is turning an ordinary sidewalk into an unlikely site of resistance.
A 78-year-old university professor who was arrested for blocking delivery robots in Philadelphia is back on the sidewalks, and she has no intention of ending her protests. Carolyn Marvin, a semi-retired communications professor at the University of Pennsylvania, continues to confront the machines whenever she encounters them, arguing that their growing presence in public spaces deserves resistance.
Marvin’s protests first attracted widespread attention after she was arrested on October 14 near Reading Terminal Market. She had been standing in front of an Uber Eats delivery robot when police officers arrived and repeatedly instructed her to move. After refusing, she was handcuffed and issued a disorderly conduct citation for allegedly obstructing a business.
The arrest, however, has done little to discourage her. In a November 7 outing, Marvin once again positioned herself in front of an autonomous delivery robot, this time on Walnut Street. A reporter from The Guardian accompanied her as she tracked down one of the machines operated by Avride, the robotics company behind Uber Eats’ Philadelphia delivery fleet.
After repeatedly attempting to navigate around Marvin, the robot eventually entered hibernation mode. She then stepped aside to attend to her university responsibilities.
She says the robots are taking jobs and crowding sidewalks
Marvin objects to automated delivery vehicles replacing human delivery workers, and she says the robots create hazards for pedestrians, particularly people with mobility issues. She has also raised concerns about surveillance because of their onboard cameras.
She has argued that public sidewalks should not automatically become spaces for private companies to operate commercial machines. Although she supports certain applications of artificial intelligence, including medical breakthroughs, she told The Daily Pennsylvanian that delivery robots do not belong in public spaces.
“I think the question is: who is [the] public infrastructure designed to serve?” she said during her latest outing. Her protests have drawn mixed reactions from pedestrians, according to The Guardian. Some passersby have praised her, agreeing that companies should not displace human workers without considering the consequences, while others have questioned whether she is being fair to customers who paid for their deliveries.
Marvin maintains that she does not deliberately obstruct human pedestrians. She says she typically spends around 10 to 15 minutes blocking a robot when she encounters one and has the time to do so.
The professor plans to contest her disorderly conduct citation
Philadelphia police said officers responded on October 14 to a report of criminal mischief involving a delivery robot and found a woman who repeatedly refused instructions to move out of its path. Marvin was cited for disorderly conduct.
She intends to contest the citation, arguing that her actions are protected protest. “I think it’s my First Amendment right to publicly demonstrate on a sidewalk to protest against delivery robots,” she told WPVI after her arrest.
Her protests date back to the introduction of Uber Eats’ delivery robots in Philadelphia in March. Marvin has acknowledged that she cannot spend every day blocking robots, but she says she will keep doing it whenever she encounters one and has the time.
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