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Occupy Underground
Related: About this forumCourt declares 92 Occupy Chicago arrests unconstitutional
Thursday, September 27, 2012 15:25 EDT
A judge in Cook County, Illinois on Thursday dismissed over 90 cases against Occupy Chicago activists on the grounds that they violated the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.
Judge Thomas Donnelly declared that the citys park curfew law that was used to arrest activists in Grant Park last October was unconstitutional both on its face and as applied and all complaints in this case are dismissed with prejudice, according to the Chicago chapter of the National Lawyers Guild (NLG).
The Occupy Chicago demonstrators were subject to constantly changing rules and regulations that ended in a directive that they had to be constantly moving in order to protest, the judge explained in his 37-page opinion (PDF). Viewed in isolation the rules and regulations appear reasonable, but viewed in the larger context of the Occupy movements presence in Chicago, they give rise to the inference that the City was attempting to discourage this particular protest.
The police would promulgate a rule; when the protesters would comply, the police would change the rule, he added. These facts, together with the clear pattern of selective enforcement of the Curfew, support a finding that the city intended to discriminate against the Defendants based on their views.
Judge Thomas Donnelly declared that the citys park curfew law that was used to arrest activists in Grant Park last October was unconstitutional both on its face and as applied and all complaints in this case are dismissed with prejudice, according to the Chicago chapter of the National Lawyers Guild (NLG).
The Occupy Chicago demonstrators were subject to constantly changing rules and regulations that ended in a directive that they had to be constantly moving in order to protest, the judge explained in his 37-page opinion (PDF). Viewed in isolation the rules and regulations appear reasonable, but viewed in the larger context of the Occupy movements presence in Chicago, they give rise to the inference that the City was attempting to discourage this particular protest.
The police would promulgate a rule; when the protesters would comply, the police would change the rule, he added. These facts, together with the clear pattern of selective enforcement of the Curfew, support a finding that the city intended to discriminate against the Defendants based on their views.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/09/27/court-declares-92-occupy-chicago-arrests-unconstitutional/
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Court declares 92 Occupy Chicago arrests unconstitutional (Original Post)
Teamster Jeff
Sep 2012
OP
99th_Monkey
(19,326 posts)1. K & R AWSOME newz. Thanks. ~nt
nichomachus
(12,754 posts)2. Wish the judge in our county had felt the same way
Fire Walk With Me
(38,893 posts)5. I'm sorry. :(
Demeter
(85,373 posts)3. Turning an ocean liner takes a bit of time
Keep up the pressure.
Teamster Jeff
(1,598 posts)4. I agree!
When people in the streets protesting or people on strike picketing is seen as being a normal every day thing it will be a sign that the ocean liner has begun to turn.
ArcticFox
(1,249 posts)6. The police promulgated the rules?
Since when were police empowered to make and change rules?
Teamster Jeff
(1,598 posts)7. They were winging it. What ever it took to suppress protests
but Rahm and the police got a slap down from the court. Bad month for Rahm