Clogging up the Streets and the System

First, they occupied the streets. Now, their lawyers want them to occupy the court rooms - if the charges are not dropped.

In New York City, there are about 800 Wall Street protesters who have been arrested in the last month and are now being represented by lawyers who are threatening to clog up the Manhattan court system, which already deals with an estimated 90,000 cases a year. Most of those who were arrested were issued summonses for violations and desk-appearance tickets for minor crimes. The first-time offenders of the group will probably be offered "adjournment in contemplation of dismissal" (i.e., charges are tossed after six months if the offender is not re-arrested).  As of October 17^th, five of the 47 held overnight were dismissed due to lack of evidence. On November 15^th, 60 demonstrators are due to appear before a judge.

Most of the demonstrators are seeking trials - rather than pleas or deals - if the charges are not dropped. If this does happen, then the National Lawyer's Guild will represent the protesters pro bono. Martin Stolar, a defense lawyer whose organization has offered to represent the protesters, stated that they are prepared to try every case. 

With all the many demonstrations going on in multiple cities, the future of Occupy Wall Street will be in the court rooms for an indefinite period of time.