2013 National Lawyers Guild Obtains $1M for Oscar Grant Protesters, Oakland Police Reforms
We brought the lawsuit in order to protect the constitutional right to dissent in Oakland, and enforce the OPD Crowd Control Policy. It is a model policy that gives the police many tools to respond to demonstrations without immediately resorting to mass arrests, weapons, or force. Yet, OPD chose to scrap this policy in dealing with the Oscar Grant demonstrations. The policy, and the law, are clear that before police can stop First Amendment activity and make mass arrests, they must have a basis to believe that the individuals being arrested have broken the law. In most situations, that means they must give demonstrators notice and opportunity to disperse, and there must be a constitutionally valid reason to do so. None of that occurred in this case.
The 150 arrests were illegal, and the City has acknowledged that.
http://archives.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/2013/06/24/national-lawyers-guild-obtains-1m-for-oscar-grant-protesters-oakland-police-reforms
NLG Files Lawsuit Against Oakland Police
Class Action Lawsuit Asserts Constitutional Violations at Oscar Grant Demonstrations
The National Lawyers Guild (NLG) is filing a major class action lawsuit against the Oakland Police Department (OPD) on Monday, June 13th, in the United States District Court. The lawsuit asserts constitutional violations stemming from the November 5, 2010, mass arrest of 150 peaceful protesters following the sentencing of Johannes Mehserle, the BART police officer who killed Oscar Grant. The lawsuit seeks injunctive relief as well as monetary damages for those 150 people who were unlawfully corralled by police and incarcerated in overcrowded holding cells for up to 28 hours.
At each Justice for Oscar Grant demonstration, the OPD has violated its own crowd control policy. This policy was obtained as part of a 2005 settlement in an earlier case of police misconduct filed by the NLG and the American Civil LIberties Union. The NLG seeks to hold the police accountable, and to obtain compliance with the crowd control policy to protect constitutional rights and freedom of speech in Oakland.
https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2011/06/14/18681898.php
