About 80 people charged with illegally camping in Woodruff Park in October came to Atlanta Municipal Court for a motions hearing Friday with the same mixture of defiance and party attitude they showed as members of the Occupy Atlanta civil disobedience movement.
They rallied outside the courthouse and then crowded before the metal detectors to get inside. Waiting for the judge in the courtroom, they laughed, talked, snapped pictures and used hand gestures to show approval. When the conversations got loud, one person trying to shush others became a chorus of shushing, followed by giggling.
One person opened an umbrella. And there was kissing.
Several times the protesters -- most of them in their early 30s or younger -- were lectured on courtroom decorum by the judge, the officers assigned to the courtroom and their lawyers.
They quieted down after one of the 23 defense attorneys told them during a 10-minute break about the importance of showing respect to the court. Lawyer Muwuli Mel Davis warned the protesters against "not taking it seriously and making a mockery" of court proceedings.
"We're not asking you to conform outside the courtroom," he said.
"This is court. You are required to remain quiet during court. You are required to remain in your seat," Judge Crystal Gaines said before the break.
Most of the protesters dressed casually; one woman wore cat ears on her head.
In contrast were Sen. Vincent Fort, D-Atlanta; Joe Beasley of Rainbow Push; and former Atlanta City Councilman Derrick Boazman, who were also arrested at the park early on Oct. 27. They were dressed in coats and ties and sat silently for the three-hour hearing.
Occupy Atlanta set up camps in downtown Atlanta's Woodruff Park Oct. 6, responding to the movement that started with the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations in New York calling attention to economic disparity. Three weeks later the Occupy Atlanta protesters were told they had to leave.
The 80 defendants were arrested because they refused to leave the park after Mayor Kasim Reed withdrew permission for them to camp there -- even during the posted hours the park is closed -- or for blocking traffic while walking in city streets in the days after they were evicted.
Arguing on behalf of all the defense attorneys, Brian Spears asked Gaines to dismiss the city ordinance violation charges, which carry a penalty of six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.
Gaines said she would some take time before ruling, but she also set trial dates for the fall should she leave the charges intact.
Spears told Gaines the charges should be dismissed because the mayor did not have the authority to revoke his executive order that had extended the time the occupiers could camp in the park to Nov. 7. The mayor changed his mind about letting them stay, saying conditions were unsafe.
Among the city's complaints were that organizers didn't get a permit to stage a hip-hop concert, one of the occupiers moved through the crowd with an AK-47 hanging off his shoulder, and a generator used in the camp was a hazard.
Spears described the decision to move the occupiers out as "collective punishment for individual misbehavior" and a violation of a constitutional guarantee to assemble, protest and speak.
Prosecutor Drew Taylor of Atlanta's Solicitor General's Office, said the city had a right to control the park and when people could be in it.
"Don't sacrifice the interests and needs of the city of Atlanta [for] people who want to use limited public resources to do what they want when they want," Taylor said.
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