Federal judge rules state violated First Amendment rights of Occupy Nashville … – The Tennessean

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20130612/NEWS01/306120202/Federal-judge-rules-state-violated-First-Amendment-rights-Occupy-Nashville-protesters

The state unlawfully arrested members of the Occupy Nashville group two years ago during a protest encampment on War Memorial Plaza, which violated their First Amendment rights to free speech, according to a ruling by a federal judge on Wednesday.

Attorneys for the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee, representing members of Occupy Nashville, filed a lawsuit in federal court in October 2011 challenging the arrests and the way in which new state rules governed the use of the plaza near the Capitol.

In the ruling, federal judge Aleta Trauger declared that state and local agencies did have not “carte blanche to respond in any manner they see fit.” In other words, “they cannot make law by fiat,” Trauger wrote.

The ACLU’s complaint listed Gov. Haslam; Bill Gibbons, the state’s safety commissioner; and Steven Cates, the general services commissioner, as defendants. The plaintiffs, Occupy protesters who were arrested, include Paula E. Painter, 56; Malina Chavez-Shannon, 35; and others. They sued for violations of the First and Fourteenth amendments. The latter guarantees the right to due process.

(More at the link; via Eye on Occupy.)