Wednesday, November 02, 2011

TN: Occupy Nashville arrests draw ACLU, legal flak

We read:
"The American Civil Liberties Union is working on a legal strategy to stop nightly arrests of Occupy Nashville protesters on the grounds that the state is violating their First Amendment rights.

The Tennessee chapter of the ACLU will ask the courts to bar enforcement of a newly imposed curfew on Legislative Plaza, where Occupy Nashville protesters have gathered for more than three weeks. A request for an injunction could be filed as soon as Monday.

While the legal teams maneuvered, protesters returned to Legislative Plaza to defy the state’s new curfew, which has led to nearly 50 arrests over two nights and countless man-hours for the Tennessee Highway Patrol. Both nights, a magistrate refused to approve troopers’ warrants and ordered the protesters released.

The arrests began after Gov. Bill Haslam’s administration announced Thursday that it had imposed a 10 p.m. curfew on Legislative Plaza for safety and sanitation reasons. State officials also announced all groups would have to purchase liability insurance and take out a $65 permit for each day they want to assemble on the plaza, making official what had been an informal policy.

Source

Since they are allowed to protest all they like until 10pm it would seem to be an issue not of free speech but rather whether they are free to camp overnight anywhere they like.

11 comments:

Stan B said...

"Newly" imposed curfews (as in - gee, we have all these protestors we want to go away, I know, let's establish a curfew ) may be seen by the courts as an infringement on their rights, if not in fact, then in spirit.

Really depends on the judge's interpretation of events. If he feels the curfew is retributive in response to these people exercising their free speech rights, it will be toast.

sig said...

Just another example of Liberal a**holes. You don't see Tea Party members acting like these pathetic losers act.

These protesters are nothing more than Left-wing patsies and pawn being used by the Obama Administration to distract attention from the real problem: president Obama and the current Congress. Our economy is in the sh*tter, our military is being gutted from within, and our government's spending is out of control.

Bird of Paradise said...

Time to revoke the ACLU tax exempt status and have them disbanded

Anonymous said...

Forget the arrests. Use gas.

Anonymous said...

Let them camp out at Gitmo.

Anonymous said...

The "new" curfew is not new at all. The city simply hasn't been enforcing it up to now. The squatters have been breaking city ordinances all along.

Anonymous said...

@ 2:10-And the defense in that case is selective enforcement. If you only use a law against people you don't like it is discrimination.

Kee Bird said...

What kind of gas annon 3:20 TEAR GAS or GOOF GAS?

Anonymous said...

For mine - the issue is: are the restrictions properly confined and imposed for proper purposes.
If they are - no probs. If not (ie as Stan suggested if they are retribution) then strike them down and good riddance.
Let them protest - it is your attitude to protests for causes that you disagree with that show your true commitment to the First.
John Paladin

Anonymous said...

"Forget the arrests. Use gas."

I fart in your general direction.

Kee Bird said...

Eat lots of beans annon 1:07