UC Berkeley Seeks Maximum Penalty for Protestors, When Did Berkeley Get Tough?

UC Berkeley officials are showing those tree protestors who’s boss. The protestors had sat in a tree on Berkeley’s property from 2006 to 2008 to make a stand against the school’s decision to cut down redwoods on the campus to build an athletic center. Now, Berkeley is going full force.

According to the San Jose Mercury News:

University of California officials are seeking the maximum civil penalties against a group of protesters who tried to block the building of a new sports facility at UC Berkeley.

A UC attorneys says the 16 people who took part in a protest by sitting in a group of trees for 21 months are facing fines of $1,000 each, as well as potential attorneys' fees ranging from $3,000 to $10,000.

Attorney Michael Goldstein says school officials are hoping to discourage similar demonstrations in the future.

Of course it was a pain for the school, and there was a lot of waiting for the primates to leave the tree. However it seems a bit ludicrous that it took the school so long to remove the protestors from the tree, which leads one to wonder, when did Berkeley grow a sac?