Politics / Cornel West Cornel West Busted in Protest at Supreme Court Professor had just come from Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial dedication By Mark Russell, Newser Staff Posted Oct 17, 2011 1:40 AM CDT Updated Oct 17, 2011 3:34 AM CDT Copied Dr. Cornell West, philosopher, author, critic, civil rights activist and prominent member of the Democratic Socialists of America, was arrested yesterday for protesting at the US Supreme Court. (Getty Images) Activist Princeton University professor and well-known commentator Cornel West was one of 19 people arrested on the steps of the Supreme Court yesterday afternoon while protesting the influence of corporate money in politics, reports AP. The group was busted when they refused to leave the grounds, according to a spokeswoman for the Supreme Court. West had attended the dedication ceremony for the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial prior to joining protests against the Afghanistan war and corporate greed. The Supreme Court last year blocked limits on corporate campaign contributions. West recently blasted presidential Herman Cain on TV, telling him to "get off the symbolic crack pipe," notes the Los Angeles Times. (More Cornel West stories.) Report an error