City's ban on Occupy Austin ruled unconstitutional

http://rt.com/usa/news/occupy-austin-protest-yeakel-148/

A federal judge in Texas has ruled that the City of Austin violated the First Amendment of the US Constitution when it banned Occupy protesters from attending demonstrations in a public park last year.

Federal District Judge Lee Yeakel issued a decision on Thursday condemning the city’s handling of the Occupy Austin protests that began last autumn (.pdf). Bulletins the city circulated among protesters last year that ordered them to vacate or face criminal charges were unconstitutional, Judge Yeakel wrote, arguing that the public plaza that was occupied during the demonstrations has always been intended to host open discussion and debate, and the city’s attempts to remove protesters by issuing warnings violated their First Amendment freedoms.

Shortly after the Occupy Wall Street movement became underway in New York City last fall, an offshoot chapter took hold of a public plaza outside Austin’s City Hall starting on October 6. On October 28, the City issued a notice of cleanup that called for all protesters to immediately stop serving food in the park after dark, and at least two protesters — Rodolfo Sanchez and Kristopher Sleeman — were arrested and charged with criminal trespass when police officers attempted to enforce the ban. Both protesters were freed shortly thereafter, but told by police patrolling the plaza that they had been banned from City Hall property pending the eventual removal of an exclusion cause that barred them from the park until further notice.

(More at the link.)