‘Occupy LA’ Protesters Can Take ‘Free Speech’ Class To Avoid Charges

December 22, 2011 11:40 AM

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LOS ANGELES (CBS) — A class on the First Amendment is being offered to “Occupy LA” protesters who were arrested on minor offenses.

LISTEN: KNX 1070 Newsradio reports

The city will not press charges against protesters who complete an educational program about free speech.

The course, which will be taught by a private contractor, will cost each demonstrator $355.

Officials say the class will save the city money.

Mayor Villaraigosa called for budget cuts Wednesday as the city continues to clean up from the two-month protest.

Repairs to the lawn of City Hall are expected to cost $400,000. The LAPD spent more than $700,000 to clear out the encampment on Nov. 30.

Occupy LA Protesters Can Take Free Speech Class To Avoid Charges

Eric

So, to all you campers. 1000 campers divided by 1.1 million dollars. Thats $1100 per person! I think a ticket for $355 is a joke and a dis-service to tax payers!!! Lets send them a bill for the cost!!!

Dean Wright

Really? You buy these over inflated figures? Let me come and bid a lawn for you.

wounded_defecator_project

Liberal, neo-conservative, useful idiots and critics of Assembly, and frankly haters of truth and freedom, exist by feeding on the entrepreneurial, middle class.
Which explains why the nation’s respect and admiration are with Occupy and with the Anonymous, Wikileaks and Ruckus brigades. Thank you heroes for all of your service, and a big hoo-rah on the Defecator udda Year award.
For they know, proletariat’s bad children and parasites, sic Zionist apparachiks of the Fed, IMF and World Bank, will never admonish the Crony Capitalism feeding their addictions and narcissism. A special interest needful and earnest of all the hearty, steamy excrement patriots can provide. Sh!t and p!ss on, noble flea-baggers, lest the streets flow with blood.

Bryan B

Here in Los Angeles you can have Sod professionally installed for less than 60 cents per square foot. An acre (43,560 square feet) would cost me about 27K to Sod. For 400K I can Sod almost 15 acre’s. Now when this goes out for bid the city must contract with the lowest bidder. Due to the economic hard times most public works contractors are bidding out projects at cost just to keep their crews working. It’s apparent that the city can’t budget correctly for a lawn let alone the rest of the city.
Since the protesters had the mayors blessing maybe he should forgo the 300K wall he wants built around the mayors mansion offset the cost of the lawn.

Smokey

You need to up your meds pal. Your mothership will be arriving shortly.

ginny

How about the courts just require all of the Occupy arrestees to restore the damage themselves and on their own dime. That would save the City plenty. Offering them a class is a joke.
Robert S.

Well, a lot of governments caused people to “Get mad as Hell”! Look at the increase in taxes coming up at the first of the year, and that is proof that the politicians don’t have a clue. Every politician should be made to “pass an economics course”. Its hell to be “opressesed” by high taxes that you did not make, only to be “punished” by having to pay um!

Astonished

I “Get mad as Hell” too, but I don’t go around distroying property that doesn’t belong to me. This type of excuse for this type of destructive behavior is a cop-out! Not only that but it shows utter disregard for the vary people this so-called activist group is supposed to be speaking up for. Have you seen how extensive the damage is that they caused????

If they really felt all that strongly about the banking system they’d go squat on Congressional lawns. Especially since local governments have nothing to do with regulating the banks.

This was just one big excuse to lay one on at the taxpayers expense. And for that (since I am a taxpayer to the City) I am truly p*ssed off! If this group was truly serious, they would do the repairs or pay to have them done. Aflter all, this group is far from penniless. They had a monthly working budget of over $500,000.00. I think that money should be used to repair the damage. It would make a nice down payment.

Dean Wright

Who told you about a working budget of $500k? Cite any source, please! This is a movement of the people. The only money spent was by the people donating food and water to protesters.

DPK

I do not destroy property. I speak up that ‘s the right of every American. I will not take a class in the present or future when the time comes to be arrested for speaking up. I will do my time and I will not pay a dime for speaking up.

Smokey

You are not “owed” anything. Try “earning” something instead of whining. You cry about the 1%, but it is the 1% who produced the iphone and ipad you used at occupy, the 1% who produced the clohtes you wear and the food you eat and the car you drive. You occupy folks claim it isn’t fair the way things aare…well nowhere in the Constitution is the word “fair.” you want ‘fair” go to Pomona in Sept. And, Oh, by the way…please take a bath-you stink.

up/yours

Smokey

That’s B.S. whiny, incompetent, overpaid aS$wipe cops take away from my entitlements. I am owed entitlements and they’ve been reduced lately and that’s B.S.

Sam Sindaha

Lets teach them a lesson on capitalism too, I’ll provide the same class on free speech for half the price.
Dean Wright

People look at this as a wake up call, dividing lines is what the protesting was all about. They are selling a $355 free speech class as fair? To whom? Many of the arrested were people that struggle with feeding themselves everyday. How many of’ them’ will pay $355 for a class? What they are doing by implementing this ridiculous attempt at saving face is, in effect, criminalizing poverty! If you can afford the class, you get a free pass. The politicians and system seem fair and therefore they gain a happy voter who buys into their brand of BS. If you can’t afford the class, too bad you get a black mark on your record. The struggle to survive gets even harder and having lost faith in a system that has left you out to dry (once again) all you have left apathy.

jason zeidler

struggling? are you kidding me!? they were fully supported by big labor, politicians, main stream media, powerful lobying groups and more you have YALE students ivy legue colleges , millionair activists, actors all pretending to be poor an downtrodden for fashion and relive some idiot romantic notion they have of opression. they lived better during their ‘struggle’ than we do putting food on the table ourselves. their protest is not about struggling its about fashion and ending capitialism. They wanted to be apart of the ‘struggle’ and support violent anti capitialists then their arrest record SHOULD be an achievement! I agree this is a waste, but not because it “criminiializes poverty” which is not even close, but it just shows how big govt, supports OWS posers and communists, because OWS wants a nanny state. ows is not the 99% fighting the opressors, they are the 1% by every standard measurment supporting the status quo of big govt nanny state. The only thing OWS is 99% of is the PROBLEM!

Astonished

Dean Wright;

Their budget was reported on 2, not 1 but 2 news channels while they were still squatting on public land. According to Channel 7 the informaiton was obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.

As for donations for food and water, well, that probably happened also, but they sure had a good deal of money under their belt too.
jason zeidler

Thats great! now if they include economics 101, history, business management, and critical thinking, capitialism 101 as well as make them pay for ALL the damamge they caused and clean up after themselves then it should be cool n the gang
http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2011/12/24/los-angeles-may-sue-occupy-protesters/ Los Angeles May Sue Occupy Protesters « CBS Los Angeles

[...] For Millions In Occupy LA Costs » Preliminary Report Reveals Occupy LA Cleanup Cost At Least $2.3M » ‘Occupy LA’ Protesters Can Take ‘Free Speech’ Class To Avoid Charges » Occupy LA Protester Pleads Guilty To Trespassing » Mayor Calls For Budget Cuts To Offset [...]
Travis Bickle

http://www.ronpaul.com/on-the-issues/national-defense/
http://propertycloud.co.za/2011/12/occupy-la-protesters-can-take-free-speech-class-to-avoid-charges/ ‘Occupy LA’ Protesters Can Take ‘Free Speech’ Class To Avoid Charges – Property Cloud

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