ACLU sues Hennepin County over Occupy rules

The Minnesota chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union sued Hennepin County officials Monday on behalf of anti-Wall Street protesters, claiming rules including a ban on tents and electricity are violating the demonstrators' rights to free speech.

Protesters have been at the Hennepin County Government Center Plaza since Oct. 7 as part of the Occupy Wall Street movement. The protesters have never been allowed to have structures like tents. But last week, new rules went into effect saying they could no longer tape signs on county property or sleep on the grounds.

The lawsuit asks that rules restricting the use of chalk, electricity and tents be declared unconstitutional. The plaintiffs are also seeking an injunction to keep the rules from being enforced, and they want the county to provide electricity to the protesters.

Plaintiffs' attorney Justin Perl said the rules are troubling because they were created specifically for the protest. "They were not based on any previous ordinances," Perl said. "The Constitution does not allow the government to just make up new rules as you go along in order to target a particular group."

The lawsuit names Hennepin County commissioners, Sheriff Rich Stanek, and unnamed sheriff's deputies and security officers as defendants. County spokeswoman Carolyn Marinan said a response was being prepared, but she had no immediate comment.

County officials have said the areas around the plaza are not designed for camping or long-term occupation, and the new restrictions were needed because of health and safety concerns and increased security costs.

But the lawsuit — which says the group formerly known as Occupy Minnesota is now being called Occupy Minneapolis — claims the county's actions were "directly aimed at suppressing the political speech of Plaintiff OccupyMPLS, its members and elected representatives, which the County has concluded is messy and inconvenient."

The lawsuit also asks that officials be told to stop giving trespass notices to protesters who exercise their First Amendment rights by chalking or building temporary shelters.

The lawsuit says that being able to sleep on the plaza is an important part of the protesters' message because it draws attention to the foreclosure crisis and homelessness.

"The 24-7 occupation of the Plazas even as the Minnesota weather turns bitter cold demonstrates the determination of the people involved," the lawsuit says. "This occupation is not about camping or sleeping outside in the winter. It is about demonstrating the desperation that some people in our society have been driven to. It calls attention to people who are needlessly suffering."

The Minneapolis protest has at times drawn hundreds of people to some events, but a much smaller number has been spending the night. Authorities have kept a mostly hands-off approach since the protest began, moving in to block protesters from putting up tents in the early days.

The sheriff has said it's not against the law to sleep overnight at the plaza, and there have been no arrests associated with the act of sleeping overnight. But county officials have said they are balancing free speech concerns with safety, and it won't be OK for protesters to stay outside when temperatures become bitterly cold.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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