Over a spirited dissent, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on Thursday refused to dismiss a class action by hundreds of Occupy Wall Street protestors who claim they were goaded by police into violating the law.

In a 2-1 decision, the panel affirmed Southern District Judge Jed Rakoff (See Profile) and held that, at this stage, the doctrine of qualified immunity does not protect the individual officers named in the lawsuit.