PRESS RELEASE
Chicago Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild

For Immediate Release: September 27, 2012

Cook County Court Dismisses more than 90 Cases Against Occupy Chicago Protesters
Judge rules park curfew ordinance unconstitutional on its face and as applied

Chicago, IL — Cook County Court Judge Thomas Donnelly dismissed over 90 cases today against Occupy Chicago activists who were arrested last October and charged with a violation of rarely used park curfew law. Judge Donnelly issued a written ruling today which found that the city’s park curfew ordinance is “unconstitutional both on its face and as applied and all complaints in this case are dismissed with prejudice.” The Chicago chapter of the National Lawyers Guild (NLG) filed motions to dismiss in February on behalf of 92 Occupy Chicago protesters.

Judge Donnelly’s order from today reads in part that, “The City’s claim that citizen safety, park maintenance and park preservation constitute the substantial governmental interests that justifies closing the park seven hours nightly fails because the City routinely closes the park for fewer than seven hours nightly, making ad hoc exceptions to the Curfew for permitted groups.” The order continued that, “Because it is undisputed that the City closes Grant Park longer than necessary to serve the governments interests, the Curfew is not narrowly tailored, in violation of the First Amendment. The Curfew also violates the Illinois Constitution which provides a more vigorous right to free assembly, embracing even non-expressive assemblies.”

“Judge Donnelly made the right decision by declaring the city’s ordinance unconstitutional and by dismissing the remaining cases brought by the city against activists legitimately engaged in free speech,” said NLG attorney Sarah Gelsomino from the People’s Law Office and one of the lawyers representing the charged activists. “Hopefully this sends a clear message to the city that they must better respect the First Amendment rights of protesters no matter what their message might be.”

Nearly a year ago, on October 16th and 23rd, more than 300 Occupy Chicago activists were arrested for protesting in Grant Park and accused of violating the city’s park curfew, which had been inconsistently imposed from 11pm-6am. Most of the 300 protesters arrested have already accepted a deal with the city to resolve their cases for community service in lieu of a conviction. It’s unclear whether these agreements will need to be revisited as a result of today’s ruling.

In his order, Judge Donnelly pointed out the city’s inconsistent enforcement by stating that, “while the City arrested everyone remaining in Grant Park during the Occupy Chicago rally, 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. That violates Defendants’ right to equal protection because it treats similarly situated citizens differently.”

After supporting the rights of Occupy Chicago activists for months, the Chicago chapter of the NLG went on to provide legal support for the thousands who protested against the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit in May.

Today’s order dismissing Occupy Chicago cases: https://nlgchicago.org/wp-content/uploads/Memo-Opinion-Order.pdf

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The National Lawyers Guild was founded in 1937 and is the oldest and largest public interest/human rights bar organization in the United States. Its headquarters are in New York and it has chapters in every state.

October 22 Deadline to Submit Claim Form in Anti-war Class Action

Earlier this year Vodak v. City of Chicago, a class action lawsuit resulting from false arrests at a 2003 anti-war protest, settled for $6.2 Million.

After nine years of litigation, attorneys from the Chicago Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild scored a significant victory by settling the suit. The case is a class action on behalf of over 700 protestors who were falsely arrested or detained by Chicago police during an anti-war demonstration in 2003.

The class is made up of any individual who was either held on the street for over 90 minutes or arrested and taken into police custody on Chicago Avenue, east of Michigan Avenue on March 20, 2003.

The deadline for class members to submit a claim form is October 22, 2012. Any class member who did not receive a form should contact the Claims Administrator immediately to request one. The Claims Administrator can be contacted at:

NLG Chicago stands in solidarity with the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) as it calls for a strike.  The CTU’s move to strike is its last resort and has become essential in its fight for a fair contract with the Chicago Public Schools.

The CTU is up against a formidable opposition composed of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s hand-picked Chicago Board of Education and Chicago Public Schools leadership, who have demonized educators and education professionals while simultaneously engaging in a systematic and self-serving push to privatize public education.  Instead of using its resources to support its teachers and provide a better education to the students in Chicago’s schools, Mayor Emmanuel and the Board of Education consistently cater to special interests and push through initiatives that benefit their own personal and political positions.

NLG Chicago and our Labor & Employment Committee (L&EC) applauds the CTU and its membership as they stand strong against the Mayor and the Board of Education and fight for dignity in what is undoubtedly one of our society’s most important professions.  In doing so, the CTU provides inspiration to all across this city and across the United States who are engaged in a struggle for better working conditions and fair compensation in these difficult economic times.

Because CTU members out on the picket lines will likely face unwarranted attacks in their personal lives and in the media, the NLG Chicago L&EC encourages everyone to reach out to the educators and education professionals in their lives and offer their support.  In the struggle for better public education in Chicago, their fight is our fight, and the NLG Chicago L&EC firmly stands in solidarity with the CTU and its members as they take that fight to the streets and sidewalks across Chicago.