Photo by hortonmp3

If the U.S. Park Police wants to get rid of Occupy D.C. campers, it will have to tell them ahead of time.

A federal court ruled yesterday that the Park Police has to give occupiers 24 hours notice before moving to evict them, reports the Post. The ruling comes in the wake of a number of sudden evictions of campers across the country and after a Sunday standoff with police in McPherson Square where rumors spread that a full eviction was in the offing.

The court ruled against issuing a temporary restraining order against police as occupiers and their lawyers wanted, though, and a second hearing was set for January 31 to further consider a lawsuit brought by one protester who said he was kept from his medications when police cordoned off an area around the People’s Pentagon that popped up on Sunday.

The ruling again highlights the inherent legal gray area that the occupiers find themselves in. National Park Service rules prohibit camping in McPherson Square and Freedom Plaza, and despite repeated warnings of the fact, neither the service nor Park Police have acted to evict occupiers.

In related news, protesters at the Freedom Plaza encampment are planning on erecting their own large structure, but unlike their counterparts in McPherson Square, they’re trying to go about it formally, reports the Examiner:

Freedom Plaza protesters say they’ve been negotiating with the National Park Service to obtain a permit for the tents and expect to be erecting them this week — they’re say they’re working with an engineer to make sure the tents are up to code.

The fact that they’re trying to make sure that their 32-foot long Army surplus tents are structurally sound — the very absence of which sunk the McPherson Square encampment’s barn — shows a certain philosophical difference between the two groups. The Freedom Plaza campers have a permit lasting through December 30; the McPherson Squares ones don’t. Additionally, the Freedom Plaza encampment has been less restive than its neighbor up the street.

“We knew the McPherson structure wouldn’t be permitted,” said Freedom Plaza organizer Kevin Zeese to the Examiner. “I think they decided to try to push the envelope, and they found out what happened.”