PORTLAND, Maine — OccupyMaine has asked that the lawsuit it filed against the city over the group’s continued occupation of Lincoln Park be dismissed.
“We believe the energy and resources required to continue litigation would be of better use in service to the community,” OccupyMaine said in a press release issued Monday afternoon by its attorney, John Branson of Portland.
What form that service might take was not outlined in the press release.
Portland City Hall was closed Monday because of the Presidents’ Day holiday.
The group in December sued the city in Cumberland County Superior Court after Portland officials ordered protesters to remove their encampment from Lincoln Park. Members of OccupyMaine set up a tent city there in October as part of the national Occupy Wall Street movement.
On Feb. 1, Superior Court Justice Thomas Warren ruled that the protesters had failed to meet the city’s requirements for health and safety but had a constitutional right to demonstrate in the park. He also said that giving them the right to occupy the park for an extended period would conflict with others’ right to use it, according to previously published reports.
The group could have appealed Warren’s decision to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court.
OccupyMaine will hold a rally at 4 p.m. Wednesday in Monument Square in honor of George Washington.
“On this grand occasion of Presidents’ Day — which has been [hijacked] by corporate America for commercial and promotional purposes — OccupyMaine does hereby resolve to continue the work of reminding one another and the public at large that we are citizens first and foremost and that, as such, we have basic rights and obligations,” OccupyMaine said in the press release. “Standing in solidarity together as citizens, we the people are the intrinsic masters of our government. Standing separately as individual consumers, we are but slaves to the corporatocracy.”
The group also announced Monday that it had established a new group called the Friends of Lincoln Park, which will meet from noon to 3 p.m. Sundays in Lincoln Park, when OccupyMaine holds its weekly general assemblies.
Evan McVeigh, 26, camped in Lincoln Park from Oct. 3 until the encampment was forced to disband on Feb. 6. McVeigh told the Bangor Daily News as he moved out of the park that he planned to move to a Cape Elizabeth farm with a friend and push for societal change by volunteering at soup kitchens and other community organizations. McVeigh said he and most others at the camp would rather regroup and promote their agenda in other ways than face arrest for refusing to leave the park.
Friends of Lincoln Park appears to have grown out of that sentiment.
Stop asking for free handouts and go get a JOB!
Ya a welfare job we need more of them that will put people back to work
oh amen!!!!
America has been crippled by corporate greed. It is so easy to see how politicians have been bought off and jobs have been shipped to China.
These guys are the gang that can’t shoot straight. And to think anyone was worried about them become a political force. lol.
I don’t care if they do or don’t. We’ve got SuperPacs paying for vicious attack adds that are turning the Republican primary into a brutal bloodbath. In other words, big corporate money owns politics, owns the government:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/study-negative-campaign-ads-much-more-frequent-vicious-than-in-primaries-past/2012/02/14/gIQAR7ifPR_story.html
According to Gingrich, Romney is a “corporate raider.” According to Romney, Gingrich is a serial liar… and so on.
According to all libbers/socialists/marxists, anyone
who disagrees with the head marxist’s ideology is
a racist and they scream for blood.
Also where is it written that ANY of these
honest workers for the people must take any
money from anyone unless they want to? I don’t recall reading
in the Constitution that it is required by these overseers
of the masses. It’s like saying McDonalds forced you to eat
their burgers. Those poor politicians just had no choice, it was
the rotten corporations fault.
Spout ideology and blame all you want. Bottom line: power corrupts and the corrupt get more and more power–and unless the people do something about it, the Constitution isn’t going to matter.
Do you really believe that the DNC superpacs won’t be doing the same thing when the time comes?
Your right corporate America owns our politicians. ALL OF THEM , LEFT AND RIGHT.
TERM LIMITS
At least they were out their trying to make a differance, rather then sitting at their computer, like us.PC’s don’t really represent Bravery puting yourself out their in the face of adversity is a pretty good representation of it though, or our men/woman in uniform dieing for corperate greed they represent bravery.
Poor Geo Washington must be turning over
thinking these useful idiots are going to try
to use his image.
Washington,et.el.,would have been to arms by now with what wall street is doing to this country.
George Washington must be rolling over in his grave over what our government has become, and what they have done,and are doing to the constitution.It’s pretty clear they are corrupt,There is an artical here today talking about transparency with campaign contribution’s by corperation’s, and our politician’s are saying it’s unconstitutional laughable since it’s the very opposite.Now I’m not saying camping in a city park is the awnser or damaging other’s property, but sticking your head in the sand and pretending our gov. is still serving the people isn’t really an awnser either.
Translation: We couldn’t get a lawyer to do useless and professionally embarrasing work for us for free..
Or we were going to get our b*’s kicked in court and that would be too embarrassing.
Gawd, talk about a broken record. Why isn’t anybody protesting outside of The President’s 40 thousand dollar a plate benny’s
Short story, they knew they would lose an appeal and decided that the PR would be better spent elsewhere.
I guess Occupy is out of touch with the West Coast
700 gather outside San Quentin for Occupy protest
John Wildermuth
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
(02-20) 15:42 PST San Quentin
— As many as 700 peaceful Occupy demonstrators gathered outside San
Quentin State Prison this afternoon as part of a nationwide effort to
call for prison reform.
“It’s been an amazing day,” said Crystal Bybee, a spokeswoman for the
local Occupy 4 Prisoners group. “We’ve had hundreds of people out here
reading messages from prisoners and speaking out about issues that are
important to us.”
Among the reforms protest organizers are calling for are elimination
of solitary confinement, a ban on the death penalty and an end to
California’s “three-strikes” law. The protest was one of about 15 taking
place at prisons across the country today.
San Quentin was placed on lockdown in anticipation of the protest,
with prisoners being kept in their cells. On-ramps and off-ramps from
Interstate 580 at East Francisco Boulevard were closed during the
protest.
The demonstration, outside the prison’s East Gate, ran from about
noon to about 3:30 p.m. A spokesman for the Marin County Sheriff’s
Office described the protest as peaceful.
Why don’t you bums go occupy a job instead?
They can’t afford the plane ticket to China.