Judge dismisses charges against 92 Occupy Chicago demonstrators [View all]
Source: Reuters
Judge dismisses charges against 92 Occupy Chicago demonstrators
Thu, 27 Sep 2012 22:19 GMT
Source: reuters // Reuters
CHICAGO, Sept 27 (Reuters) - A Cook County judge on Thursday dismissed charges against 92 people arrested last October during two anti-Wall Street Occupy demonstrations in Chicago and said a rarely applied city curfew law violated their constitutional right to free assembly.
Police arrested more than 300 people during the protests for violating a city ordinance when they did not leave a park near Lake Michigan when it closed at 11 p.m. Violation of a city ordinance was the lowest possible misdemeanor charge.
The demonstrations were held in Grant Park, which was the site of large protests against the Vietnam War during the Democratic Party's convention in Chicago in 1968. The area has been a gathering point since 1835, two years before the city was incorporated.
The demonstrators contended the curfew was unconstitutional because it acted as a blanket bar on all speech and was enforced arbitrarily against them. The city said it was applied regardless of speech and the demonstrators had other avenues in which they could communicate.
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