Larry Simpson, with Occupy Chattanooga, warms his hands at a fire Wednesday in front of the Hamilton County Courthouse.The Hamilton County Commission took another step Monday in its lawsuit against Occupy Chattanooga in federal court.
The county filed a response to a motion to dismiss that the protesters filed weeks ago. The county argues that the suit it filed last month against Occupy and nine individuals shouldn't be dismissed.
"By opposing the motion to dismiss, the county continues to pursue a confrontational course in which it seeks to make Occupy demonstrators pay for the county's effort to have its own law upheld," said Scott Michelman, a Washington, D.C.-based lawyer for Occupy Chattanooga.
"Instead of working with well-meaning demonstrators peacefully expressing their views, the county seeks to impose a monetary penalty -- that is, court costs -- for their speech. As for the content of the county's brief, the county mainly asks the court to sidestep, rather than apply, governing Supreme Court law," he said.
County commissioners want the Eastern District of Tennessee court to issue a declaratory ruling upholding rules about public use of the County Courthouse lawn.