occupynashville:

A committee of the state House of Representative sent a bill to remove Occupy Nashville protesters from the state Capitol to the House floor after increasing the bill’s penalty to nearly a year in jail or a $2,500 fine.

 The House Judiciary Committee voted 14-2 to approve a ban on unauthorized camping on public grounds, in a bid to force the four-month-old Occupy encampment from War Memorial Plaza. The committee also approved an amendment that raised violations to a Class A misdemeanor, the highest class of penalties short of a felony.

Occupy Nashville protesters argued at Tuesday’s hearing that the bill – which specifically bans the use of items such as tents, tarps, sleeping bags and camp stoves – would criminalize homelessness. They also said the tents they have set up on the plaza are a form of protest that should be protected by the First Amendment.

“Corporations can by television and billboards,” said protester Michael Custer. “We are not wealthy. … Those tents? They are our billboard.”

But supporters of the bill said the protest has fostered fights, drug use and lewd behavior, including at least one instance each of a public sex act and urination.

“If you approve of that – you think that’s peaceable assembly – you need to be peed on,” said state Rep. Eric Watson, the bill’s sponsor. “See how you like it.”

The vote by the House Judiciary Committee means the bill could be voted on by the full House within days. The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to take up a companion measure later this afternoon.