Wrongful Arrests Class Action Suit

I posted information earlier about a possible class action against the city and against the SF police dept. Here is more information and those numbers again.

As I understand it, the likely suit will be a Federal suit charging abridgement of a constitutional right to free speech and assembly. The lawyers will do their best to consolidate like cases to strengthen any suits. That is, they will more avidly pursue cases where large numbers of people experienced the same mistreatment. So, wrongful arrest of dozens of people will more likely win as a class action than the beating of an individual (though of course, you should still pursue that as well).

Plus, I don't know about you, but my biggest beef with the police is not their mistreatment, but that they were attempting to stifle dissent.

This is a good way to pit the parts of the system against each other and take advantage of the competition for power between the judicial system, the enforcement industry, and the politicos. And not only will it reinforce your right to free speech and assembly, but it will increase the costs of war to our local representatives of the war machine. Not to mention make interesting news and validate the right to protest to a nation that likes dissent as long as it is not too loud.

Even if your anger may have trickled off since your arrest, it is worth sending this message and bringing the protest to this new level. Crippling lawsuits can be almost as much fun as crippling traffic.

So the first thing you should do is call the following organizations and just leave your name and number. Don't fill up their answering machines with the particulars of your story. They'll call you back.

415.951.4844 x228 Bay Area Police Watch Director Ishmael Tarikh
415.285.1011 San Francisco Lawyers Guild Legal Aid
415.553.9530 San Francisco Attorney's General Office

Your court date for any citation, is a separate matter and easily handled. SF Legal Aid will help you with this as well. If you have a good story and are confident you were not individually seen, photographed, or videotaped by police, plead not guilty at your arraignment hearing, and go to trial. The burden of proof is on the city to prove that you were actually doing what you were cited for.

Keep in mind that I'm just another dumb guy arrested on a sidewalk. I am neither a lawyer nor an organizer. But I did want you to have this information.

Marley