SLEEPS press release:

GSA and DHS intend to prosecute SLEEPS protestors who remain after 11:00 PM tonight

On December 10 charges against Emily Semple were dismissed by the federal government "in the interest of justice".  In July Semple had defied an order, which she considered unlawful, to stop protesting and depart the Federal Plaza at 7th and Pearl.  Today GSA and DHS have put Semple and other protestors on notice that anyone staying to protest after 11PM tonight will be arrested.....for the same charges that the government recently dismissed "in the interest of justice".

 

What has changed about "justice" in the last two weeks?

 

SLEEPS was advised this morning that anyone remaining to protest after 11PM at the Federal Plaza this evening will be charged with trespass and arrested.  SLEEPS, through its affiliate OCCUPY and two individual protestors, currently have filed a complaint with GSA over an earlier ouster of the groups.  Lauren Regan of the Civil Liberties Defense Center filed an Injunction and an emergency Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) over the first eviction.  On Friday Judge Ann Aiken denied the emergency TRO.  The government is required to file a response to the Injunction by January 2 with a response from plaintiffs due January 16.

 

Judge Aiken's stated reason for denying the emergency TRO while awaiting appropriate filings on the longer Injunction was that there is no "emergency" as there are sufficient other places for protestors to protest.  SLEEPS asks, where?

 

SLEEPS protestors have now been denied the right to protest 8 times in the past few weeks: three times at the Lane County owned Wayne Morse Free Speech Plaza; once at City Hall’s parking lot (City Hall is chain link fenced in and Free Speech Plaza is on the property housing the Mayor and Council offices and meeting space); twice at Federal Plaza; once at the New Wayne Morse Federal Courthouse and once at the city owned Community Gardens.  Historically, City Hall, the Federal Plaza and Free Speech Plaza have been "the" sites for free speech, the traditional public forums of Eugene.  Alll have weathered overnight protests.  Why is SLEEPS being denied the right to protest?  Is it because all of the protestors remaining 24/7 are unhoused people?  Are they being discriminated against on the basis of socio-economic prejudices?  Why is JUST THIS GROUP required to get a permit while others are allowed to protest without being instructed to get one?

 

The mere requirement of a permit is unconstitutional.  The County and Federal Governments require that a permit be filed 48 hours in advance in order to protest against the government.  Even when permitted, they require that protestors leave at either 5PM or 11PM and protest only on weekdays, depending on the site.  Article I Section 8 of the Oregon Constitution specifically forbids the government to “restrict” or “restrain” free speech.  Saying protest hours are restricted to before a certain time is a clear “restriction” and thus unconstitutional. The idea of filing two days in advance to ask the government for permission to protest against it is such an flagrant restraint it hardly bears further discussion.

 

This level of free speech obstruction is frightening. 

 

Another serious question concerns Department of Homeland Services (DHS) and Eugene Police Deparmtnet (EPD).  They are both aware that a judge appeared to be about to rule against GSA on the Semple case.  Since the government, sensing defeat, dismissed the charges against Semple "in the interest of justice", DHS had declined making further arrests of SLEEPS protestors who have remained in defiance of GSA's policies for the same charges as the Semple case.  Our understanding is that to do otherwise would be to knowingly obey an unlawful order.  Why is DHS now willing to risk obeying what they think is an unlawful order?  Why has EPD been willing to issue orders that the courts have indicated may be unlawful?

 

Why have Eugene's three traditional protest sites, City Hall, Free Speech Plaza and the Federal Plaza all been shut down to SLEEPS?  Who will they shut down next?

 

The right to protest is fundamental to a democracy.  As JFK once noted, once you take away a people’s right to protest, all that is left is revolution.  The unhoused in this community continue to be denied shelter, continue to be prosecuted on ludicrous charges such as "theft of services" for plugging in a cell phone or "criminal trespass 2" for leaning against a building while standing on a public sidewalk.  They have many good reasons to protest. As JFK said, quashing protests leaves few options to those with grievances.  The conduct of the federal, county and city officials should be of concern to all citizens.

The Safe Legally Entitled Emergency Places to Sleep (SLEEPS) folks are challenging the closure of free speech plaza — a fence is now closing off the free speech plaza to prevent more protesting. (Would you like some paprika to sprinkle on that irony?) At least one protester has been cited. Here is the latest SLEEPS press release we've received; we'll be updating if we hear more:

12:30 pm Thursday, Dec. 13:

SLEEPS will return to FREE SPEECH PLAZA at 1PM today, Thursday, to challenge the unconstitutional closing of the plaza in response to the SLEEPS protest there December 10-12.  County Administrator Liann Richardson ordered the plaza closed Tuesday Dec. 11 at 11 PM citing that it was for the purpose of public safety, closing it to everyone in the public.   "This is preposterous.  The county is denying every single Eugenian access to this protest site, a blatant affront of every single individual's First Amendment Rights.  Suggesting that because unhoused people have been in the area that there is a "biohazard" is the most atrocious stereotypical hatemongering possible," said one of the protestors.  

Hippies and others hang out in this area all the time.  Across the street Saturday market has potties and food sales every weekend.   Have we ever seen those areas closed down as a public safety issue?  The unhoused at Free Speech Plaza used public toilets, cooked no food and both maintained and left the space immaculate as numerous television and print media photos and videos document.

"It is clear that the county will use any excuse to keep those who are unhoused from being able to have their voices herd.  I feel like I'm back in the sixties when people who are black were blocked from public spaces and denied their civil rights.  Hopefully EDP will not allow themselves to be used as a tool in the preposterous closing of Free Speech Plaza on public safety issue.  It is obvious this is a disengenious attempt to deny us our first amendment rights, said another protestor." 

 

4:01 pm Thursday, Dec. 13:

Here's a press release from EPD:

A group of about 50 people moved illegally into the closed Wayne Morse Free Speech Plaza, 125 E. 8th Avenue. The plaza had been closed by the Lane County Administrator on December 11, 2012 at 11 p.m. and was still closed for cleaning.

 

Today, the group that was trespassing was advised by the county administrator that if they did not leave the closed area, they would be subject to arrest. Time was provided for those who wished to leave. All but one person voluntarily left. Cited in lieu of custody and released at around 2:15 p.m.  was Alley Valkyrie, age 30, of Eugene. She has been charged with Criminal Trespass in the Second Degree.

 

Over the past few days, the City of Eugene has been proactively reaching out to organizers of this group, to help them safely engage in constitutionally-protected free speech while also enforcing laws, protecting the safety and freedom of others, and minimizing community disruption and the impact to public resources.

The Eugene City Council heard public forum comments Monday, Dec. 10, on the three options for City Hall: move to EWEB’s riverfront building, stay at the same 7th and Pearl site and build a new building, or rebuild and beautify the existing city hall using parts of its skeleton. (See wkly.ws/1a9 for more information.) Most of the 17 speakers advocated keeping city hall downtown; two spoke in favor of the EWEB site.

As EW goes to press Wednesday, Dec. 12, council will sit down to a work session that Mayor Kitty Piercy said after the Dec. 10 meeting would include an attempt by council to decide on the future site. Piercy said that because of Councilor George Poling’s expected absence, there would not be a tie. But if Poling is able to phone into the Dec. 12 meeting and a tie results, Piercy says she supports remaining downtown for reasons including its connection to the county building and the city’s ownership of the 7th and Pearl property. “It just makes really good sense to me,” she said.

The U.S. News and World Report is famous for their college rankings — did anyone else proudly show their parents the "dorms like dungeons" listing for UO when living in the residence halls? Anyhow, now they're publishing a list of "underperforming schools," which means the schools' reputations are better than U.S. News thinks they should be based on academic indicators. UO is on that list.

According to U.S. News, the academic peer assessment ranking for UO is 70, but the UO really deserves a 115. Fellow alums, should we make T-shirts or something? "I love my underperforming Ducks?"

A lot of you probably read the Savage Love a few weeks back in which Dan Savage asked LGBT folks whose straight friends worked for marriage equality during the past election to send in a picture and a small description of what they did.

The result is Straight Up Thanks, and this Tumblr will make you sob, bawl, get misty or whatever you do when faced with something particularly touching. As the Nov. 14 Savage Love stated, gay people shouldn't have to say "thank you" when their rights are recognized. But I think and hope that straight people in other states ***coughOREGON2014cough*** will see this and realize that our activism during future elections (and during non-elections) could be very  important to someone we love.

From SUT:

These are my friends Jehan and Seth. They gave a substantial donation to Equality Maryland as a wedding favor to all the guests at their wedding. Jehan even had her toenails painted in rainbow colors as a sign of support! My wife and I (and all the other gay people present) had a great time dancing at their wedding, and four months later, their donation helped our state of Maryland achieve marriage equality!—Jenise

Here's a video from New York about not riding your bike in the bike lane. This is exactly why you need to know your rights — don't miss the surprise ending!

In other bike news, the number of bikes sold in Italy has overtaken the number of cars for the first time since WWII.

And in more serious bike news, I don't know that critical mass is the most productive way to advocate for bikes, but these black-and-white dressed people's reaction in San Francisco is not super safe, to say the least:

And this Grist story about the guy trying to mandate bike licenses in Portland is kinda hilarious.

EcoSalon released its list of 2012's top 10 most ridiculous quotes about women, and they're SO ridiculous that Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin's comment about rape and pregnancy didn't even make the list (though maybe it should have). In case you've been living under a rock, here's what he said, possibly confusing human women with ducks:

"If it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down."

Rush Limbaugh also had a gem or two that didn't make the list:

"So Miss Fluke and the rest of you feminazis, here's the deal. If we are going to pay for your contraceptives and thus pay for you to have sex, we want something. We want you to post the videos online so we can all watch."

I wonder what EcoSalon and I missed? We probably don't want to know. Barf.