Occupy Denver: ACLU reacts to restriction against recording during court appearances

On Sunday, court officials at the Van Cise-Simonet Detention Center warned me, Denver Post reporter Wes Gentry and the occupation's internal legal team that we would not be allowed to bring in notebooks, bags or cell phones; we were asked to put those items in our cars or in a cubby inside the lobby. In place of this, court reps told us we could each bring in a pen and a sheet of paper. Upon using them, however, we were individually asked to stop any note-taking or be required to leave the courtroom. Occupy Denver's protester-packed legal force resorted to scratching newly raised bond rates into paper with their fingernails

​The decision was unexpected, and though it is unlikely to be repeated, the group's lawyers say, the ACLU of Colorado chose to address it definitively in a letter sent yesterday to the presiding judge of the Denver County Court. In addition to requesting records relating to police force, investigating the removal of protester property and stopping by the occasional Occupy Denver event, Colorado ACLU representatives have stepped into the occupation's First Amendment ring once more. (Read more about the legal precedents involved in the letter below.)

"We request that you take all necessary steps to ensure that Judge Hoffman, and any other Denver County Court judge who has adopted a similar prohibition, immediately cease such unconstitutional restrictions on public access to the courtroom," ACLU attorney Sara Rich writes. "In addition, we respectfully request that you respond to our concerns on or before December 2, 2011, and describe what actions you have taken to ensure compliance with the First Amendment protected right of access to criminal trials in Denver County courtrooms."

In all, the restriction on recording materials in court is just the latest in a string of events that has escalated gradually since the group's first collective visit to courtroom 2300. For the past two weeks, part-time magistrate John Hoffman has refused to hear any arguments on bail set at $750. Thus we must immediately accepting the city's bond recommendation, most recently $200 higher than it was only two weeks before.

The result quickly depletes the funds of the group's legal team, fronted and financially supported by the Denver Anarchist Black Cross. After court on Sunday, the group was short more than $400 needed to bail out all of its twenty arrestees, and protester Corey Donahue's most recent stint in jail lasted from Sunday to Wednesday before funds were raised to bail him out. At present, three protesters remain in jail: Jonathan Shepard, Victor Jaime and Robert Huffman.

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