A federal judge has ruled that the state unlawfully arrested members of Occupy Nashville during the group’s protest encampment on War Memorial Plaza. In October 2011, the Tennessee Highway Patrol arrested 55 people on charges of misdemeanor criminal trespassing. The American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee filed suit in 2011 on behalf of the members of Occupy Nashville. Judge Aleta Trauger ruled that those arrests violated First Amendment rights to free speech. The ruling means state officials must pay all monetary awards and attorneys’ fees.