New York ( CNN ) -- In the spirit of spring rebirth , the Occupy movement is ramping up activities as warm weather blankets the country . But while the season is typified by a reawakening of life outdoors , demonstrators are using sleep to get their points across . They call it `` sleepful protest . '' The sleeping bags started appearing on the corner of Wall and Broad streets across from the New York Stock Exchange on April 9 . A civil rights attorney sympathetic to the Occupy movement provided the legal justification for the move in the form of a court ruling from 2000 . A federal district court judge said people can sleep on sidewalks as a form of political expression as long as they take up no more than half of the sidewalk and do n't block any doors . Occupy organizers declared a month ago that the movement would be planning a comeback in the spring and summer . Some city and state governments , armed with new ordinances aimed at the Occupy movements , are ready to prevent demonstrators from re-establishing encampments . For the past few nights , dozens of Occupy Wall Street protesters have slept on a patch of concrete a stone 's throw away from the traders and stock brokers who are the targets of their message . `` The goal here is to not violate the law and not give the police a reason to move the group , '' said Ted Schulman , who has taken part in Occupy demonstrations for several months . Every morning , they talk about income inequality and the role of big money in politics as commuters pass by on their way to jobs in the Financial District . Most people who work in the area seem indifferent . `` They just do n't understand how things work , '' said Wayne Kaufman , chief market analyst at John Thomas Financial . `` They have fantasy ideas . But , they 're entitled to their opinions . '' While police have occasionally forced the protesters to move so the sidewalk could be cleaned , and a few have been arrested , Occupy protester Lauren DiGioia is not deterred . `` We 're not afraid anymore . I mean , we 've been through so much . All of us have been to jail , '' said DiGioia , a 27-year-old with hair dyed neon blue . `` We know we 're doing the right thing . '' What are Occupiers really fighting for ? So-called sleepful protests have popped up elsewhere in the country with varying degrees of success . In Washington , police have been less accommodating , while in Los Angeles , protesters have taken to sleeping outside Bank of America branches , a frequent target of the Occupy movement . Similar sidewalk sleep-ins are taking place in Boston and Atlanta . The protesters on Wall Street do n't expect their sleep-in to grow into an encampment like the one that became home to hundreds of people at nearby Zuccotti Park . `` I view this as the pre-campaign . I certainly doubt that this will still be here May 1st when the big rallies start , '' Schulman said . `` My guess is by that point , they 'll have taken control of this space again . '' Occupy organizers are calling for large-scale demonstrations across the country on May 1 in conjunction with the labor movement 's International Workers Day .
The Occupy Wall Street movement is ramping up its activities . In New York , protesters have moved to a sidewalk near the Stock Exchange . They are calling for an end to corporate greed and corruption in politics.