Civil Rights Clinic

Around 2:45 PM on Monday, January 30, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police entered the Occupy Charlotte camp to enforce the newly enacted ban on camping on city property. Seven protesters were arrested for nonviolently resisting the eviction by refusing to leave their tents. Members of the Charlotte Law chapter of the National Lawyers Guild were present to document the eviction as neutral Legal Observers.

There is a heated debate between the protesters and the police regarding the proper interpretation of the ordinance. The protesters read it to say that tents are permissible as long as they are not used for sleeping, or to store personal possessions. The police read the ordinance to say that all tents must be removed with the exception of a single information canopy.

Please decide for yourself. Here’s the relevant text from the ordinance:

• Ch. 15 Art. I Sec. 15-26 Camping and other activity prohibited on public property.
  • (a) Definitions.The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this article, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this subsection, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:
    • Camp or camping means the use of city property for living accommodation purposes such as sleeping, or making preparations to sleep (including the laying down of bedding for the purpose of sleeping), or storing personal belongings, or placing any tents or a temporary shelter on city property for living accommodation purposes.
    • Temporary Shelter means tents, tarps, or any type of structure or cover that provides partial shelter from the elements.
  • (b) It shall be unlawful for anyone to camp on any public property owned by the city including public right of ways and sidewalks.
  • (c) Camping as defined in this section is deemed a public nuisance and the city may summarily remove a temporary shelter, bedding or personal belongings.

Ken Davies, an attorney representing Occupy Charlotte is busily working on obtaining a temporary restraining order. The Clinic will be closely following the legal action surrounding the eviction. For more on the eviction and Occupy Charlotte’s legal response, please check out this article by the Herald Online.