#OCCUPYTRENTON WINS RIGHT TO PROTEST

We have to post this particular news about an Occupy action for a particular reason, and it is something for all you folks who only seem to defend free speech when it is neo-Nazis or other people without a history of doing the same that need defending. Back in April, the National Socialist Movement held a rally on the steps of the New Jersey Statehouse in Trenton, NJ. There were no attempts by the city or the state to stifle their right to do so. Hell, they even drove the Nazis to the Statehouse (a safety measure, yes, but still a point to be made). As we note, Trenton and other municipalites have bent over backwards in the past to accomidate white supremacists whenever they want to stage a march or rally on their town, and in the case of Trenton, we were besiged with editorials about how the Nazis were free to express their right to speak. You would be hard pressed to find such a need to write such editorials when on Oct. 14, the same police that defended the Nazis, got rough with Occupy Trenton and confiscated all their property in an effort to squash their efforts. The ACLU of New Jersey has some good news, however. They just won a court decision ordering Trenton to return all of Occupy Trenton’s property and leave them alone. If you are going to defend free speech on the part of Nazis, others with more of a quality character that you would want to fight are going to get the same freedom or you are going to look pretty damn foul if you treat them a lot worse when they express their rights. Many Kudos to Occupy Trenton and the ACLU. This was one round that we had to win, and shame on Trenton for even doing this. The city should pay Occupy Trenton’s legal fees!

ACLU-NJ

NEWARK – A Superior Court judge has validated the free speech rights of Occupy Trenton protesters and has ordered the state to return all of the food, medical supplies, computers and other property that it confiscated on October 14.

“This is a victory in our efforts to secure full free rights for Occupy Trenton,” said ACLU-NJ Legal Director Ed Barocas. “The state cannot arbitrarily create restrictive policies just because it does not like how people are using a public space.”

Superior Court Judge Mary C. Jacobson in Trenton granted a temporary restraining order preventing the state from enforcing some of the “rules” issued in a letter from Raymond L. Zawacki, the Deputy Commissioner for Veterans Affairs in the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, in response to the Occupy Trenton demonstration that began in Veterans Park on October 6.

Protesters will now be allowed to have their laptops, coolers, signs and other items at the park on State Street. The judge ordered the state to return all confiscated belongings to protesters by November 14. The judge further confirmed that the protesters must be allowed to maintain a continuous 24-hour presence at the park, although the protestors cannot set up tents or other structures.

The American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey (ACLU-NJ) filed the lawsuit on behalf of Occupy Trenton on October 26. The lawsuit claims the state’s imposition of previously-nonexistent restrictions on the protesters, and the seizure of their property pursuant to those restrictions, violated their rights to free speech and due process.

Judge Jacobson acknowledged Occupy Trenton’s likelihood to succeed in the case, noting that the state failed to follow proper procedures when it made up the restrictions governing the use of the park. She explained that the Occupy Trenton demonstrators “are entitled to have restrictions on their constitutionally protected activities imposed by rulemaking and not informal action targeted at their demonstration.”

On October 26, ACLU-NJ cooperating attorney Bennet Zurofsky appeared in court to ask the judge to impose a temporary restraining order to stop the state from enforcing the illegal rules. The ACLU-NJ will appear in court again on December 19 for another hearing on the matter.

Occupy Trenton is also being represented by ACLU-NJ cooperating attorney David Perry Davis and ACLU-NJ Legal Director Edward Barocas.

The brief and complaint in the case can be found www.aclu-nj.org.