Judge Rules Against Occupy Columbia

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) –A federal judge says new rules regulating protests on the Statehouse grounds can take effect immediately. U.S. District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie on Thursday said her injunction against removing the Occupy Columbia protesters is lifted now that state officials have approved rules on the use of the Statehouse grounds. Currie also refused a request by protesters to continue her order allowing them to camp on the grounds. The Budget and Control Board on Tuesday unanimously approved emergency regulations banning camping and sleeping on Statehouse grounds. Currie said her order blocking the removal of protesters was issued because the state had no written rules governing the use of the grounds. State law says emergency regulations can be issued in cases of “imminent peril to public health, safety, or welfare.”