Judge slams Occupy Chicago arrests as ‘unconstitutional,’ throws out case

'A Cook County judge dismissed charges against 92 Occupy protesters arrested in a Chicago park last October, ruling that the city’s overnight park curfew violated the First Amendment and was being enforced selectively.
Associate Judge Thomas M. Donnelly noted that police had arrested hundreds in a crackdown on the protesters' encampment when the park closed at 11:00pm local time, but had not moved against the 500,000 people who came to see Barack Obama after he won the presidency in 2008.
"The city arrested no one at the Obama 2008 presidential election victory rally, even though the Obama rally was equally in violation of the curfew," Judge Donnelly wrote.
The judge added that the selective enforcement of the curfew, combined with the Chicago Police Department's harassment of protesters in the days leading up to the arrests, supported “a finding that the city intended to discriminate against defendants based on their views.”
Judge Donnelly threw out the arrests, and slammed the city for denying the protesters their First Amendment rights. Citing the park's long history of political rallies dating back to Abraham Lincoln, Donnelly quoted early city leaders who resolved in 1835 that the land that became Grant Park "should be reserved for all time to come for a public square, accessible at all times to the people."
rt.com...

I'm glad to see that there are still honest people in the system that will stand up for the rights of everyone and not just a select few. This is good news! Hopefully there will be more people in power that will stand up for whats right instead of lining their own pockets at the expense of the people.

Originally posted by voided101
I'm glad to see that there are still honest people in the system that will stand up for the rights of everyone and not just a select few. This is good news! Hopefully there will be more people in power that will stand up for whats right instead of lining their own pockets at the expense of the people.

I agree...We Need All The Good New's...We Can Get!