CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Irony stung the Occupy Cleveland movement in October 2011 when about a dozen of its members were arrested in Public Square.

Protesters were taken into custody for violating curfew near the statue of Cleveland's 35th Mayor Tom L. Johnson -- an effigy erected as a testament to free speech and assembly.

But a court decision (read the full text in the document viewer below) has opened the door for Occupy Cleveland or anyone else to return to Public Square for late-night protests.

The 8th Ohio District Court of Appeals ruled that the city's curfew ordinance, which banned people without a permit from Public Square between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m., violated First Amendment rights.

"The law has been struck down as being unconstitutional and therefore it is no longer enforceable," said J. Michael Murray, the attorney for protesters Erin McCardle and Leatrice Tolls, whose convictions were overturned in the court's decision. "It's a monumental victory for Occupy Cleveland and other like-minded citizens who want to exercise their constitutional rights in an area that is dedicated to free speech."

The court specifically mentioned Johnson's advocacy of free speech in the opinion that reversed McCardle's and Toll's convictions for violating curfew.

Cleveland Law Director Barbara Langhenry said the city is disappointed in the decision. "The city is analyzing its options for further judicial review," she said.

The next step for appeal would be to the Ohio Supreme Court.

"The city believes that the ordinance is a constitutional time, place and manner restriction designed to protect public safety, health and welfare," Langhenry said in a statement.

But the court said in its opinion that even time, place and manner restrictions may be unconstitutional when it overburdens speech.

Langhenry cited Public Square's unlit areas as cause for public safety concern between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m.

Jonathan Adler, a constitutional law professor at Case Western Reserve University, described the ruling as aggressive.

"Similar ordinances like these are upheld as long as they have a legitimate justification, and I would think that this one does," Adler said. "It's a surprising outcome."

After the 2011 Occupy Cleveland arrests, the city granted a series of two-week permits allowing the group to protest in Public Square overnight.

The city stopped renewing the permits in May, soon after five fringe members of the group were charged with attempting to blow up the Ohio 82 bridge.

Occupy Cleveland was ordered to remove its tent in Public Square two days after the bomb plot was foiled. The group's presence quickly evaporated.

"My sense is that the city wanted us out of there anyway," said Joseph Zitt, who has been with Occupy Cleveland since its inception. "I think they didn't want our presence out on the Square to distract people from [Horseshoe Casino Cleveland]."

The casino opened May 14, just days after the city refused to renew the group's permit. The city would not say if either the bomb plot or the casino were factors in not renewing the permits.

Occupy Cleveland moved many of its efforts online and into neighboring communities, but has become increasingly dormant.

The group no longer accepts donations, according to its website.

The group now primarily acts as a mobile force of volunteers who help with other causes throughout the United States, Zitt said.

It currently has members, including Tolls, in Staten Island, N.Y., to assist in the Occupy Sandy hurricane relief effort.

"We had a physical presence longer than any other occupation," Zitt said. "Having a physical tent is not a requirement, but a tactic we used to bring people together and exercise our right to free speech."

And while Occupy Cleveland does not have plans to re-establish their presence in Public Square, Zitt sees the courts ruling as a big win for Occupy and the people of Cleveland.

"Now we have the right to express ourselves the way Tom Johnson would have wanted us to," he said.

Follow Brandon Blackwell on Twitter @blackwelltweets