FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jennifer Wallace: 302.588.6919 or jenwallace@comcast.net
May 4, 2012
Occupy Delaware Victory against City
Chancery Court re-instates case protecting encampment
Group planting garden in City’s Hilltop area.
WILMINGTON, DE. Chancery Court has re-instated Occupy Delaware’s case against the City of Wilmington for interference in the group’s First Amendment rights. The court had issued a stay on the case last November in response to the agreement the City signed with Occupy Delaware allowing it to remain in Spencer Plaza indefinitely.
Representing Occupy Delaware, ACLU attorney Richard Morse had petitioned Chancery Court to lift the stay in response to the City’s threats to abrogate that agreement based on what Occupy Delaware says are long-resolved issues. The action by Chancery Court effectively forestalled the City’s hopes to expel Occupy Delaware using Superior Court, at least until August 20, when Chancery Court will hear Occupy Delaware’s claim, as well as the City’s defense.
Occupy Delaware will be celebrating its court victory and the six-month mark of its encampment at noon Saturday, May 5 at Spencer Plaza on French Street between 8th and 9th in Wilmington.
While the City opposed Chancery Court’s re-opening of the case, it attempted to paint its setback as a victory in a press release today, thanking the court for “agreeing to hear our arguments.”
In a May 1, 2012 letter to Court of Chancery Vice Chancellor Sam Glasscock, III, the City’s attorney C. Malcom Cochran wrote, “it is the City’s intention to proceed by way of a claim for ejectment which, as the Court is aware, is a remedy of law typically assigned to the Superior Court.”
Occupy Delaware still seeks to resolve the issues with the City amicably.
Meanwhile, Occupy Delaware has been invited to help beautify the Hilltop neighborhood as part of the citywide Community Project Day, May 5. Occupy Delaware has already added two raised beds to the site at 5th and N. Harrison. Future plans for this location include repairing and/or replacing the fence, adding a gate, and possibly painting a mural on the wall adjacent to the property.
Occupy Delaware is of course continuing its protests, attending Sheriff’s Sales and conducting “banksleeps” on the sidewalks outside local too-big-to-fail banks.
Occupy Delaware comprises a broad variety of voices. Anyone in Delaware who is fed up with a national agenda that is rigged in favor of the wealthiest one percent at the expense of the other ninety-nine percent is welcome to participate. Occupy Delaware does not endorse political candidates or parties.
Occupy Delaware Webpage: http://www.occupyde.org
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/occupydelaware
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/OccupyDE
Occupy Delaware Mission Statement: http://www.occupyde.org/mission-statement/
Declaration of the Occupation of New York City (Occupy Wall Street):
http://occupywallst.org/forum/first-official-release-from-occupy-wall-street/.
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