Tag Archives: occupy

Occupy London Wins UBS Court Appeal, Fights St. Paul’s Eviction

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Occupy London Wins UBS Court Appeal, Fights St. Paul’s Eviction – Businessweek.

Dec. 19 (Bloomberg) — Occupy London protesters who took over a vacant UBS AG office building in the city’s financial district won court permission to appeal their eviction after a judge ruled they weren’t given proper notice of a trial.

The bank’s notice to the protesters, in the form of a document posted on the building and a text message sent to a leader 45 minutes before a 10 p.m. hearing, was insufficient to give the group time to prepare or determine how to participate in the case, Court of Appeal Judge Timothy Lloyd ruled today.

There was “really no effective notice of the hearing at all — especially in circumstances like this, where a hearing took place late at night,” Lloyd said. “There is at least a compelling reason why permission to appeal should be granted.”

The court victory against Zurich-based UBS comes as the protesters, who seek global economic-equality and claim the bank behaves unethically, are in a separate trial to avoid being evicted from their primary encampment outside St. Paul’s Cathedral. More than 200 tents have clustered around the building since the middle of October, inspired by the Occupy Wall Street protest that has since been broken up by police.

“This ruling is a vindication of the right of everyone in this country to due process,” Naomi Colvin, a spokeswoman for Occupy London, said after the ruling. “These people labor under the misconception that they can throw money at a problem; it’s emblematic of what the Occupy movement is trying to combat.”

UBS’s press office in London didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Possession Order

Lloyd said an appeal hearing should take place as soon as possible after Jan. 11. He suspended an injunction won by UBS last month and put on hold a so-called possession order that paved the way for eviction. The bank, whose building was occupied Nov. 18, said it would propose an interim injunction to address its concerns about health and safety in the building.

In the St. Paul’s trial, protesters are fighting a court push by the City of London Corporation, which oversees Britain’s main financial district, to evict them from the property over claims they are blocking a public passageway, impeding tourists from photographing the 17th century cathedral and forcing the continued closure of nearby Paternoster Square, where the London Stock Exchange is located.

The protesters claim the occupation is a human right and an effective way to raise awareness of wrongdoing by banks. Judge Keith Lindblom said today he may give an indication of his decision by the end of the week and that he would visit the protest site at the cathedral today.

‘Structural Flaws’

“Freedom of expression is one of the essential foundations of a democratic society,” the group’s lawyer, Michael Paget, said in his opening statement at the trial. The occupation is drawing attention to “the mismanagement of the U.K. and global economy and the structural flaws in the economy, including the inability to properly regulate the banking system.”

The four-day trial comes after the City’s negotiations with the protest movement last month failed to result in a deal for the protesters to leave the area after the New Year. Demonstrators have also occupied Finsbury Square and a nearby UBS AG building to protest inequality.

The City served an eviction notice on the St. Paul’s protesters on Nov. 16, a day after New York police in riot gear entered Zuccotti Park in Lower Manhattan to remove Occupy Wall Street protesters who had been camping there for more than eight weeks in a demonstration that triggered others around the world.

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Human Red Carpet for US Chamber of Commerce: Classic, Creative and Awesome

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Human Red Carpet for US Chamber of Commerce: Classic, Creative and Awesome | Crooks and Liars.

This is what I love about the people who are occupying these different venues. Is there a better metaphor for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce than a human red carpet?

This was from the U.S. Chamber holiday party last night, and if there was ever a better venue for the 99 percent to confront the 1 percent, I’m not sure what it might be.

Via International Business Times:

“This is Bruce Josten’s let-them-eat-cake moment,” Christie Setzer of Chamber Watch told Mother Jones, although the publication reports she refused to directly approach Josten.

The event was one of several protests that took place in Washington, D.C. this week. On Monday, unemployed protesters from across the country gathered in D.C. for a week of demonstrations dubbed “Take Back the Capitol,” during which thousands of Americans occupied the offices of several members of the U.S. House and Senate and swarmed K Street to speak out against the influence of corporate lobbyists on the nation’s political discourse.

A report released on Wednesday from the non-partisan Public Campaign found that 30 major U.S. corporations have spent more money lobbying Congress than on paying federal income taxes between 2008 and 2010, an example of the undue influence Occupiers argue has corrupted the American political system.

In the 2012 campaign cycle, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has used their resources to alter a photograph of Senator Sherrod Brown to make him look like a wild-eyed lunatic. They are backing the evil SOPA initiative to kill the internet with big lobbying dollars, lobbying against food and consumer product safety regulations, and will likely throw a lot of money at the Massachusetts Senate race between Elizabeth Warren and the bankers’ handmaiden, Scott Brown.

Did anyone actually dare to walk on the red carpet? According to ThinkProgress, no, though Bruce Josten stood in front of it to greet his guests as they arrived.

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Park Police must provide Occupy D.C. notice before eviction, judge says – The Washington Post

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Park Police must provide Occupy D.C. notice before eviction, judge says – The Washington Post.

A U.S. District judge ruled Monday night the National Park Service must give protesters in McPherson Square some notice if it moves to evict them, except for in emergency situations, according to a lawyer for an Occupy D.C. protester.Following a day-long standoff Sunday after protesters erected a 15-foot-tall wood-frame structure in the park, one protester sought a ruling clarifying his rights if the National Park Service decides to enforce a ban on overnight camping.

In an order handed down by Judge James E. Boasberg, the court said the Park Service should provide “24-hour notice to the Court” and protesters “if it intends to enforce its regulations prohibiting camping or sleeping in McPherson Square.”

“Absent such notice or exigent circumstances, the Government will not restrict Plaintiff’s access to the square or his camping or sleeping in the square,” the judge wrote.

Jeffrey Light, an attorney for Occupy protester Brett Henke, said the ruling should ease protesters’ concerns that Park Police might suddenly conduct a raid on McPherson Square, separating protesters from their personal possessions.

“It certainly helps to calm a lot of people down to know there are not going to be any surprises from the Park Police,” said Light, of the National Lawyers Guild. “Things will happen in an orderly way by going to court before people get kicked out, and people will get their day in court.”

In the complaint, Henke sought an injunction preventing Park Police from removing tents from the park without probable cause. In the complaint, Henke says he was separated from some of his medicine during Sunday’s police activity.

After protesters erected their structure Saturday night, Park Police cordoned off about half of the park Sunday as they arrested 31 demonstrators and removed the structure.

“This action seeks to vindicate rights protected by the First and Fourth Amendments to the United States Constitution and is brought pursuant to the inherent authority of the federal judiciary to restrain unlawful acts of the government,” the suit says.

The judge did not rule on the merits of the suit, but he denied the motion for a temporary restraining order. Instead, a second hearing was scheduled for Jan. 31. Light said the judge brokered an agreement between the parties that the Park Police provide notice before an eviction.

A Park Service spokesman was not immediately available to comment. But Light said Park Service attorneys argued during the hearing that they no had no immediate plans to clear McPherson Square but that they wanted the right to move in on the encampment in an emergency.

Under Boasberg’s order, Light said, Park Police will still be able to restrict access to the park in emergencies.

“If there was a knife fight, certainly the government could come in and deal with that,” Light said. “But to remove tents that have been there for two months, that is not an emergency and they could certainly wait 24 hours to have a hearing.”