SANTA CRUZ, Calif. -- A City of Santa Cruz lawsuit asking a judge to weigh in on the Occupy Santa Cruz encampment in San Lorenzo Park has been sent to federal court.
Attorneys representing the city and Occupy Santa Cruz appeared briefly before Santa Cruz County Superior Court Judge Timothy Volkmann Wednesday morning. At the beginning of the hearing, Judge Volkmann said a notice of removal was filed Tuesday by attorneys representing the local protest movement.
City Attorney John Barisone said the lawsuit, originally filed one week ago by the city, asks the courts to determine if the demonstration in San Lorenzo Park has risen to the level of a public nuisance. If so, it seeks clarification concerning the demonstrators' constitutional right to continue camping as part of the Occupy movement that has swept across the nation.
Barisone said he fully expected the suit would be remanded to Superior Court.
"It's legally without basis," said Barisone. "We view it basically as a delay tactic that was taken, in my estimation, in bad faith."
Ed Frey, who represented Occupy Santa Cruz in court, said federal court is the most appropriate place for this type of argument.
"The federal courts take the Constitution more seriously than these courts do generally," said Frey.
He said declaring Occupy Santa Cruz a public nuisance would violate the demonstrators' First Amendment right to protest by camping.
Since early October, protesters have been camping in San Lorenzo Park and in front of the county courthouse, standing in solidarity with others angered by income inequality and the state of the American political and financial systems.
