23-10-2013, 07:12 AM
A little more than two years ago the NYPD arrested 732 demonstrators on the Brooklyn Bridge in what would be the largest mass arrest of the Occupy Wall Street movement in New York. But how many of those chargesmainly for disorderly conduct or obstructing governmental administrationstuck? The current tally: 680 dismissals (195 at the request of the City, 40 by judges, and 445 more ACD); 21 cases where charges were dropped; 6 guilty pleas to disorderly conduct; 2 acquittals; 1 plea resolved in another case, and 17 no-shows. Five protesters were convicted of the charges levied against them.
"From an administrative and justice perspective, this was obviously a challenge," Manhattan DA Cy Vance told Colin Moynihan. "I'm proud that the office handled the cases in a fair and evenhanded way."
The cases were handled by the DA's "mass arrest coordinator," with the help of three prosecutors and four paralegals. The National Lawyers Guild, which represented 662 of the protesters, assigned 45 volunteer attorneys who made 1,500 appearances in court.
A class action suit filed by the protesters against the City, alleging that the NYPD lured them on to the Brooklyn Bridge to be arrested, is still working its way through the legal system.
It's unclear how much the arrests and their ensuing prosecution cost taxpayers, though the NYPD spent $17 million in overtime on Occupy-related events in 2011 (the department budgeted $614 million for overtime this year [PDF]).
Mass arrests during demonstrations are regarded by experts as having a profoundly chilling effect on free speech [PDF].
1,806 people were arrested during the 2004 GOP convention, and around 90% of those cases were dismissed. Taxpayers shelled out at least $8.2 million for the City to defend the ensuing lawsuits, but the real number is likely much higher: the most recent figure available is from 2008.
"From an administrative and justice perspective, this was obviously a challenge," Manhattan DA Cy Vance told Colin Moynihan. "I'm proud that the office handled the cases in a fair and evenhanded way."
The cases were handled by the DA's "mass arrest coordinator," with the help of three prosecutors and four paralegals. The National Lawyers Guild, which represented 662 of the protesters, assigned 45 volunteer attorneys who made 1,500 appearances in court.
A class action suit filed by the protesters against the City, alleging that the NYPD lured them on to the Brooklyn Bridge to be arrested, is still working its way through the legal system.
It's unclear how much the arrests and their ensuing prosecution cost taxpayers, though the NYPD spent $17 million in overtime on Occupy-related events in 2011 (the department budgeted $614 million for overtime this year [PDF]).
Mass arrests during demonstrations are regarded by experts as having a profoundly chilling effect on free speech [PDF].
1,806 people were arrested during the 2004 GOP convention, and around 90% of those cases were dismissed. Taxpayers shelled out at least $8.2 million for the City to defend the ensuing lawsuits, but the real number is likely much higher: the most recent figure available is from 2008.
"Let me issue and control a nation's money and I care not who writes the laws. - Mayer Rothschild
"Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience! People are obedient in the face of poverty, starvation, stupidity, war, and cruelty. Our problem is that grand thieves are running the country. That's our problem!" - Howard Zinn
"If there is no struggle there is no progress. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and never will" - Frederick Douglass
"Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience! People are obedient in the face of poverty, starvation, stupidity, war, and cruelty. Our problem is that grand thieves are running the country. That's our problem!" - Howard Zinn
"If there is no struggle there is no progress. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and never will" - Frederick Douglass