Jayne O'Donnell

USA TODAY

Police have calmly arrested hundreds of people in Washington, D,.C. protesting the influence of money in politics during the last week, in what several participants described as a striking display of restrained law enforcement.

More arrests are expected Monday, the final day of protests when the focus of the non-violent protests turn to voting rights and timely consideration of the Merrick Garland's nomination to the Supreme Court. U.S. Capitol Police have arrested more than 900 protesters through Saturday.

Mass demonstrations by a group called "Democracy Spring" began last Monday. A related group, "Democracy Awakening," joined the efforts on Saturday and are holding often integrated sit ins and other demonstrations to protest laws it considers discriminatory, such as Voter ID laws.

"Here what you have is a very professional, carefully calibrated and wonderfully orchestrated means of dealing with law enforcement in Washington," said Cornell Brooks, national president and CEO of NAACP.

More often, "it's very different the way young activists who are black and brown are described" and treated, said Brooks, who led the Democracy Awakenings march on Sunday. "Sometimes they are roughed up and assumptions are made that can be very dangerous."

Those arrested were charged with violating a D.C. statute prohibiting "crowding, obstructing, or incommoding," which are misdemeanors, said police spokeswoman Eva Malecki. All of those arrested were Democracy Spring-related participants. Most were processed and then released on the scene.

On Sunday, Malecki said demonstrators remained "orderly and respectful," just as they had through the previous week. .

Democracy Awakening urged their protesters to wear their "Sunday best" and to bring $50 in cash in anticipation of the planned arrests Monday.

Actress Rosario Dawson said in a video posted on YouTube Friday that the organizers hope to surpass all previous Capitol protest records for number arrested, topping 1,000 by the time the week-long demonstration wraps up.

The Democracy Spring effort started in Philadelphia, where thousands began a 140-mile walk to the U.S. Capitol to "demand Congress take immediate action to end the corruption of big money in our politics and ensure free and fair elections in which every American has an equal voice."

"This week, we're taking back our democracy," Dawson said. Money in politics has "distorted our politics and our issues." Police arrested the actress Friday on Capitol Hill for crowding and obstruction. She was briefly detained and will be required to pay a $50 fine like the others arrested, Malecki said.

Harvard Law School professor and former Democratic presidential candidate Larry Lessig was arrested Friday — for the first time ever. "I'm a law professor," he said Saturday. "I don't get arrested."

But he made an exception for the issue that he based his short-lived campaign on: Campaign finance reform.

"I’m so incredibly excited with the kind of passion and the mix of people that were there," said Lessig, noting it's spread beyond the usual "law geeks and intellectuals" who rally around campaign finance reform.

Another 85 arrested as protests continue at Capitol

There was even some bi-partisan support for the demonstrations outside a Capitol building that doesn't see much of it inside lately. John Pudner, executive director of the group Take Back Our Republic, says many conservatives and small business owners also don't feel represented by the big money influencing politics. He joined one day of the 140-mile walk from Philadelphia and another colleague of the group participated in the demonstrations.

"We want to see small donors become the focus," said Pudner, who spent 20 years running campaigns, including the one that unseated former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., in 2014.

Many protesters held up signs protesting the Supreme Court's 2010 ruling in the Citizens United case. The case opened the door for the rise of newer super PACs — political action committees that can raise unlimited amounts from virtually any source — and contributed to corporate influence in campaigns, critics say.

Still, it's unlikely Democracy Spring can achieve the kind of attention it desires — it aims to change the course of the 2016 presidential election. But some say the campaign season itself is giving much-needed attention to money in politics. "We're seeing it with the surprising support for Senator Sanders, who has made it a central part of his campaign, and when Trump says he can't be bought. That resonates with people who realize the system is rigged against them." said Wendell Potter, co-author of the new book Nation on the Take: How Big Money Corrupts Our Democracy and What We Can Do About It.

Democracy Spring's protests in Washington could obscure the fact that people across the country are starting to fight the effects of corporate interests in local elections, Potter said. His cites changes made in Tallahassee, Fla., Seattle and in South Carolina, where lobbyists are now banned from making campaign donations.

Democracy Spring protesters tend to be left-learning, but Potter said groups including Take Back Our Republic, share the "common concern about what's happened to our democracy."