 |
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
 'Puppet factory' owners suing Phila. over arrest 01/23/01 - by Joseph Slobodzian - Philadelphia Inquirer The first of the anticipated civil-rights lawsuits against the city over arrests of protesters during last summer's Republican National Convention was filed yesterday in federal court. Michael Graves and his wife, Susan Ciccantelli, sued in U.S. District Court seeking unspecified damages for Graves' arrest, prosecution, and four-day "preventive detention" during the convention. They had leased part of their West Philadelphia warehouse to protesters building floats and puppets for street demonstrations. The Philadelphia District Attorney's Office later withdrew the misdemeanor charges against Graves. The suit states that "at no time did [Graves] commit any illegal acts or engage in any conduct which justified the actions of the [city and police]." City Solicitor Kenneth I. Trujillo said he could not comment on pending litigation. Graves, the owner of Oak Heart Wood Floors Co., was arrested Aug. 1 at his company's warehouse at 4100 Haverford Ave. during a police raid on the so-called "puppet factory." Police, accompanied by inspectors from the city's Department of Licenses and Inspections, entered the warehouse and arrested Graves and about 75 others inside. Police reported that they had seized pipe, wire and other items that authorities alleged were the makings of "lock boxes" used to link protesters in street blockades. Almost 400 protesters were arrested during the five-day GOP gathering. Of the 300 or so cases resolved, prosecutors won just 12 misdemeanor convictions, leading critics to say police chose public order and an appearance of peacefulness over the free-speech rights of the protesters. Yesterday's lawsuit was filed by David Rudovsky and Paul Messing, Center City civil-rights lawyers. Their firm and the American Civil Liberties Union last year sued the city on behalf of seven activists who attended the street demonstrations as "medics" to care for injured protesters. The medics' suit, which is pending before a federal judge, contends that city police harassed and illegally searched them during the demonstrations. The medics were not arrested. Joseph Slobodzian's e-mail address is jslobodzian@phillynews.com |
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Fair Use Notice of copyrighted material contained in this website.