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Supreme Court Upholds Eviction of Occupy Protestors

By Aaron Scheinblum
November 16, 2011 - 11:21 am
The New York Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that protestors may return to Zuccotti Park, but they may no longer camp there.

The park has been the main headquarters for a movement that has spread not only from coast-to-coast, but also across the world.

After New York Police cleared the “residents” from the park early Tuesday morning, attorneys for the demonstrators argued the forced evacuation was unlawful, CNN reports.

State Supreme Court Justice Michael Stallman disagreed.

Judge Stallman said the protestors’ rights of speech and assembly don’t entitle them to camp out indefinitely in the privately owned park, according to USA Today. Judge Stallman added those removed may return, but without their camping equipment and tarps, according to ABC News.

 

After the Occupy Wall Street protests began, Brookfield Office Properties Inc., the company which owns the park, announced rules that outlawed camping, constructing tents, using sleeping bags, and lying on the ground and benches,, reports Bloomberg.

A lawyer for Brookfield Office Properties, Inc., Douglas Flaum, explained his satisfaction.

“I’m gratified Judge Stallman recognized the right [of the owners] to have rules that allow Zuccotti Park to be a clean, safe and fully accessible place,” Flaum said Bloomberg reports.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg explained protestors may exercise their First Amendment rights, but must follow the park rules, reports CNN.

“The law that created Zuccotti Park required that it be open for the public to enjoy for passive recreation 24 hours a day,” Bloomberg said.  “Ever since the occupation began, that law has not been complied with... the park was becoming a place where people came not to protest, but rather to break laws, and in some cases, to harm others," the mayor said reports CNN.

Sociology professor at Fordham University Heather Gautney has studied multiple social movements, including Occupy Wall Street. She believes its problems stemmed from reality clashing with the inclusive, leaderless, peaceful idea of the first encampment at Zuccotti Park, the Los Angeles Times reports.

“In real life, there’s poverty and homeless people, and there’s crime,” Gautney said, citing issues at various Occupy camps from recent weeks, including acts of theft of rape.

Despite the ruling, about 25 protestors remained “occupied” in the park overnight, but police and sanitation workers outnumbered them, ABC News reports news affiliate WABC-TV reports.

Of those which stayed, about half of them have been attempting to avoid bad behavior.

Early Wednesday, protestors called for police when a man starting throwing punches, eventually arresting a man who had tried to mediate, according to the Wall Street Journal.  Briefly after, protestors banished a man who was arrested last week for indecent exposure, the Wall Street Journal says.

An Occupy Wall Street press officer, Mark Bray explained simply: “We need to get the movement back on track after this setback,” according to the Los Angeles Times. “You can’t evict an idea.”

A member of the Occupy Wall Street finance committee, Pete Dutro, told ABC News: "This is going to make us stronger.”

“We're going to regroup," Dutro said.

Photo by Paul Stein.

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