[Street] Affidavits for court case
Jeffrey Feuer
jeff.feuer1 at gmail.com
Mon Nov 28 00:34:09 EST 2011
I am responding to issues raised by Theresa concerning what affidavits are
being submitted to the court in support of the lawsuit filed on behalf of
Occupy Boston and four individual participants of OB by the National
Lawyers Guild and the ACLU of Massachusetts to obtain a court order
recognizing the constitutional right of OB to continue to exist in and
occupy Dewey Square.
In the original lawsuit filing, the lawyers from the NLG and ACLU submitted
affidavits (which are sworn statements under oath) *only* from the four
individual participants from OB who are the named plaintiffs in the
lawsuit. Those people, who had their participation in the lawsuit ratified
at several GA's, submitted sworn statements explaining why they were
participating in OB, what OB meant to them, and what they thought the
message(s) of OB were.
At the hearing on the Temporary Restraining Order (TRO), the judge
expressed her concern as to what message(s) the outside world was receiving
or perceiving from the physical occupation of Dewey Square and whether or
not a continual physical presence in Dewey Square was (a) necessary to
convey any message, and (b) what message was actually being conveyed by
that physical encampment to people who were *not* part of OB.
The judge limited us to having one live witness testify at the upcoming
December 1st hearing (which will determine if the court will give a
permanent order allowing OB to stay in Dewey Square) and that one witness
will be one of the named plaintiffs from OB, Eric Martin.
The judge also limited us to 5 more affidavits -- which will address only
the issues mentioned by her at the prior hearing, that is whether or not a
continual physical presence in Dewey Square was (a) necessary to convey any
message, and (b) what message was actually being conveyed by that physical
encampment to people who were *not* part of OB. One of the affidavits will
be from an OB participant, a second will be from a state senator who
supports OB, a third will be from a public middle school teacher who
brought 80 students down to OB for a 3 1/2 hour visit, a fourth will be
from a supportive union member, and the fifth affidavit is from a high
school student who has visited OB. There are no big "names" being used in
any of the affidavits. Rather, we sought to get the views of a wide
variety of people from outside OB as to what they perceived the messages of
OB, and in particular the physical encampment at Dewey Square, to be, as
that is what the judge wants to hear. Representatives of the OB Legal
Working Group had input in selecting who these outside people would be.
The viewpoints of OB itself are expressed in the original four affidavits
from the OB participants who are the named plaintiffs in the lawsuit and in
the supplemental affidavit from one of the plaintiffs being submitted now,
along with the four affidavits from outside supporters who are non-OB
participants.
I hope this answers the concerns raised by Theresa and others at OB.
And I hope to see many of you at the court hearing on Thursday, Dec. 1st,
at 9:00 a.m. in the Suffolk County Court House, Courtroom 1008 (10th floor).
In solidarity,
Jeff Feuer, Coordinator, NLG Mass Defense Committee (Massachusetts Chapter)
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