Monday, November 7– Join us at 2:30pm as we march from the occupied courthouse steps to City Hall to deliver OSC’s response letter to City Hall (consensed by the GA of November 6) regarding the unsolicited and repressive event permit issued by the City of Santa Cruz. We need as many people as possible to join in this important action and assert our right to assemble freely! We’re expressing our First Amendment rights. This will potentially open up a dialogue between OSC and city officials. The open letter, addressed to the citizens of Santa Cruz, appears below:
An Open Letter from the General Assembly of Occupy Santa Cruz to the People of Santa Cruz
While the General Assembly of Occupy Santa Cruz appreciates the City authorities’ public recognition that our assembly is within our First Amendment rights, we want to make known that the unsolicited permit issued to us violates these rights.
Our permit is the First Amendment.
We desire an open dialogue with city officials. Occupy Santa Cruz has both attended city council meetings and invited city officials to our meetings. No city official has yet participated in our General Assembly, which gathers daily at 6 PM and Sundays at 2PM on the courthouse steps. Please join us.
In addition, the permit and press surrounding the permit has misrepresented our movement. Our camp is neither unsafe nor unsanitary. We pack our trash and provide toilet facilities.
As people of the United States of America, our rights to freedom of speech and assembly do not end at a certain time of night, nor at noon on November 16th as indicated in the permit.
Occupy Santa Cruz is calling everyone to join us; therefore we cannot accept limits to the size of our assembly. We are an open and dynamic assembly of American people, horizontally organized through a process of direct democracy. Thus, no one person or group of persons can be designated as leader, permittee, or event coordinator.
We are seeking cooperation from city officials to prevent police repression of our assembly.
As the First Amendment of the United States Constitution clearly states:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Exercise of this Constitutional right does not require a permit.
Occupy Santa Cruz does not accept the implicit assertion made in the demand made by the City of Santa Cruz to sign a non-requested permit for use of the park land currently being occupied – namely, the assertion that the Santa Cruz Municipal Code trumps the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America.
Approved by the General Assembly of Occupy Santa Cruz on November 6th 2011.
15 Responses to “Our Response En Masse to the Unsolicited Event Permit Issued by the City of Santa Cruz”
Great move!
Thank you for your truth, courage and demonstrations.
I am very proud of the working group and the General Assembly who worked through darkness, rain, and a wide range of opinion to come to this consensus.
Our integrity is 100% intact!
I’ll be there
Yes, great GA. It’s unfortunate I didn’t look at the last paragraph closely enough this afternoon…some of the grammar (esp the last paragraph) could use a little tuning.
It would be better as:
“In its issuance of a non-requested permit, the City of Santa Cruz made an assertion–implicit in its request–that the Santa Cruz Municipal Code trumps the First Amendment of the United States of America. Occupy Santa Cruz does not accept this assertion.”
But that’s just the English teacher in me, I guess.
…”First Amendment of the Constitution of the…” etc. Whoops. The edit needed an edit. :0
This video was useful for me to re-acknowledge the revolutionary character of the Occupy Movement:
Occupy San Jose address the City Council:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EscnSiZiWCY&feature=player_embedded
“We’re not camping, we’re occupying.” TAX THE RICH.
I’ll try to be there – soild move OSC!
Good response.
Skillful – well done!
I see nice comment ,edits,well done! good advice!
You have come along way,yet far from the goal.
I wait for those just observing and commenting to get out there and put their integrety and honor on the front line of this movement,thats where we need our mouth pieces to be!
Kudos to you! You know democracy unlike most of our “elected” officials. Hold onto and flaunt the principles!
Kudos to you. You were a wonderful testimony to patriotism and to how democracy is practiced by the people. Keep on. You inspire hope!
It was an honor to act as “reader” for the letter (dressed in revolutionary garb, n all). Kudos to you all, for your attendance and effort.
Santa Cruz:
Go forward and please keep sharing. You are demonstrating grace, temerity, principles, and consensus…
Occupy Kauai has reposted the link…..
Thank you,
Lefty Witch on Twitter