NEWS FLASH: Court Ruling Halts Restrictive NYPD Practices in Anticipation of Republican National ConventionThe Manhattan Federal Court of Judge Robert Sweet has released an order blocking the NYPD from using certain tactics at large demonstrations. See the judge's decision (PDF form) and order (PDF form) for more information. About the CaseThe NYCLU's lawsuits against New York City challenging a series of NYPD practices used at large demonstrations and expected to be used at the Republican National Convention went to trial before Judge Robert Sweet in federal court in Manhattan on Wednesday June 2.
The lawsuits seek court orders barring use of these practices at large demonstrations, including those that will take place in August at the Convention. They also seek damages for three individuals injured at the large anti-war demonstration on February 15, 2003. The NYCLU’s cases challenge five specific NYPD demonstration tactics:
the NYPD’s denial of public access to demonstrations through the use of barricades and police officers to close sidewalks and street leading to demonstration sites; the use of horses to forcefully disperse peacefully assembled demonstrators; the use of pens made of interlocking metal barricades to confine demonstrators; the searching of the bags and possessions of people seeking to attend demonstrations and being forced to enter NYPD pens, and the prolonged detention in vans without access to food, water or bathroom facilities of demonstrators charged with minor offenses.
The lawsuits are brought on behalf of the NYCLU and three individuals who attended or sought to attend the February 15, 2003 anti-war demonstration.
The Individual Plaintiffs:
1. Ann Stauber, a 60- year old diabetic in a wheelchair, was herded into a street holding pen. She was forbidden to leave by the NYPD even after she told them she had an urgent need to find a bathroom and then return home to check her blood sugar. When she attempted to leave, an officer forcibly stopped her and in the process broke the controls on her wheelchair.
2. Jeremy Conrad, a 27-year old law student, was trapped in a barricaded area and then injured when a horse stepped on him. When he complained to NYPD officers that the crowd could not move, he was arrested and maliciously pushed and kicked by officers. Mr. Conrad was detained in the back of a police van for about seven and a half hours without food, water or bathroom facilities. The NYPD then forced Mr. Conrad and others to stand outside police headquarters for approximately an hour and a half in 14 degree weather before releasing him.
3. The late Jeremiah Gutman and his family were channeled and penned on a street as they attempted to march to the rally site. Police offered no information or inaccurate information to the trapped demonstrators. Then, without warning, police on horses drove into the crowd. While trying to protect his young son, Mr. Gutman was knocked to the ground and injured.
See the right-hand column for relevant legal documents.
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