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 Civil Engineering 12/21/00 - by Gwen Shaffer - City Paper Activists arrested during the RNC may seek big bucks via civil suits. It has been five months since about 400 activists were arrested during the Republican National Convention. Of the defendants charged with misdemeanors and already tried, 91 percent have been acquitted or had their cases dismissed for lack of evidence. But for many, their interaction with the Philadelphia court system has only just begun. Civil rights attorneys are strategizing to determine which cases have the best chance of winning judgments against the city on the grounds of unlawful arrest, and who — in addition to the Philadelphia Police Department — will be cited as plaintiffs. Many of the protesters claim forthcoming civil suits are driven by the desire for liberty, not money. But they also predict the cases could cumulatively demand millions of dollars from government coffers. Activists will also ask the court to grant "injunctive relief," barring the city from similar infiltration and surveillance of activists in the future. Currently, local police operate under a policy directive established by former Mayor Wilson Goode in 1987. The directive states that before a police officer infiltrates any group, his or her actions must be approved by the city's managing director and top brass in the police department. But this procedure is not court-mandated and can be dropped any time. Civil rights attorney David Rudovsky, considered the local "czar" of police abuse cases, sees the potential for civil suits based on numerous grounds: false arrest, violation of First Amendment rights, malicious prosecution and excessive detention pending arraignment. In addition, Rudovsky speculates there may be a class of plaintiffs claiming unfair conditions in the Roundhouse, such as denial of medication and cramped cells. Lawyers representing demonstrators in recently dismissed criminal cases argued that the city and Pennsylvania State Police prevented them from exercising free speech, and illegally searched and seized property. But City Solicitor Ken Trujillo is confident that when civil suits are filed, the facts will fail to prove liability. "Nothing that I've seen gives me reason to think the city will need to settle any cases out of court," he says. "In a large number of these cases, these people wanted to be arrested," Trujillo says, noting that the activists built "lock boxes" so the police would have to cut them apart when they blocked intersections. "[Police Commissioner John Timoney and I] bent over backwards to ensure protesters' First Amendment rights were protected." Even American Civil Liberties Union attorney Stefan Presser complimented the police midway through the Republican convention for doing an "outstanding job." Protesters blacklisted him for his comments. And certainly, many other civil rights attorneys espouse a different interpretation of what went down in Philadelphia during the first week of August. (Several attorneys interviewed for this story declined to be identified until it is determined who will represent civil plaintiffs.) The fact that local, state and federal law enforcement agencies collaborated months before the RNC is outrageous, several sources assert. They cite a May meeting among the FBI, the Pennsylvania State Police and police departments from Philadelphia and Washington, DC. "Are we talking about international drug dealing or people walking around with protest signs?" wonders one attorney. "I've seen less coordinated efforts for international car theft rings and massive insurance fraud scams." (Among the attendees at that May meeting was Washington police detective Angelo Parisi — the sole witness to testify on behalf of the prosecution in last month's trial of activist Terrence McGuckin. Parisi testified that he acted as an "observer" during the RNC, tagging along with officers from the Philadelphia Police Department.) Just how civil suits will be grouped remains a big question mark. "It is real unclear whether these cases are appropriate for a class action lawsuit," this source says. "Each has its own specific issues." Attorney Andrew Erba, who represented protesters in criminal cases, agrees that grouping the cases poses a problem because "people were arrested in so many different locations and under so many different circumstances." However, the 70 activists arrested in a West Philadelphia warehouse — only to have their cases dismissed last month — are likely to file a class action suit. Claims made by these "puppetistas" are considered to be the most "winnable." "Some RNC protesters were charged appropriately for civil disobedience," one local attorney says. "But with the puppet space, was the intent to take people off the street until the end of the Republican National Convention, or were they arrested because law enforcement really believed they were involved in criminal behavior? And why did the district attorney charge 70 people, when state troopers couldn't link them to any crime?" As for whether it was prudent for police to arrest activists in the puppet warehouse, Trujillo stresses that a judge determined there was probable cause to issue a search warrant. "The affidavit may have shown probable cause to arrest one or two people, but certainly not the vast majority," one civil rights lawyer counters. "If you can't link an individual to a specific crime, you don't have probable cause... The police have a real problem because of the lack of specifics in their paperwork." "Police are put in an impossible situation," Trujillo asserts. The city is battling suits filed after police failed to act — including a high-profile suit filed by the parents of Penn student Shannon Schieber in the wake of her murder. And then, Trujillo notes, there are situations like the puppet space, where police face the possibility of a suit because they took action. In addition to the puppetistas, other protesters have alluded to filing individual lawsuits against the city. On the day charges were dropped against demonstrator John Sellers, his attorney said a case was certain. Sellers was charged with acting as a "ringleader" of mass demonstrations and initially held on $1 million bail. "Being acquitted in itself doesn't give rise to a lawsuit," a legal source says. "But in Sellers case, the district attorney screamed and yelled about what great evidence she had." As for the amount of damages protesters may seek, that is yet to be determined. Rudovsky suspects that some cases will settle out of court. Of the cases that make it to trial, plaintiffs will ask for individual damage assessments — depending on how much time they spent in jail, how they were treated, and the value of property destroyed by police. Trujillo insists he sees "zero" cause for the court to award damages in civil suits. "Maybe people were locked up for a week or two," he acknowledges. "But if they'd given their names when they were arrested, they would have been released from jail." And as for the possibility of a judge issuing an injunction barring police from certain investigation methods in the future, Trujillo is "skeptical" that could happen. "You've got to look at the entire week of police behavior," he says. Trujillo stresses that the city provided Port-a-Potties and water for demonstrators at the Unity 2000 rally on July 30, and that KWRU was allowed to march without a permit all the way to the First Union Center on July 31. "These events were handled superbly," he says. Should the city be forced to pay out significant awards to RNC protesters, it is possible an insurance policy — taken out by either the city itself or the Republican Party — would cover much of the expense. Trujillo declined to comment on such coverage. But during the puppetista trial, an attorney with the firm Margolis Edelstein quietly took notes in the back of the courtroom. Margolis Edelstein represents the insurance company, sources say. |
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