Occupy Wall Street Protesters Report to Court
The line outside the summons court was longer than normal on Wednesday morning, as those accused of the usual offenses, like allowing a dog to wander off a leash or drinking a beer on a public stretch of pavement, were joined by protesters from Occupy Wall Street.
Many of the protesters, numbering nearly 200, had last seen one another in October after their arrests for crossing the roadway of the Brooklyn Bridge; they had ridden the same city bus used to transport prisoners, or had shared stories inside a police precinct station house.
On Wednesday, they had another shared experience, passing through two magnetometers on their way to the fourth floor of 346 Broadway, where court cases tend to move swiftly and are often disposed of with small fines or conditional discharges. The court is normally reserved for cases that can safely be categorized as minor and rarely qualify as headline material.
Inside a courtroom, Judge Neil Ross heard pleas. Many defendants agreed to arrangements that will result in their charges being dismissed if they are not arrested within six months. But others declined, saying they wanted to go to trial.
full: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/15/nyregion/occupy-wall-street-members-report-to-court-for-brooklyn-bridge-rally.html
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