Victory for Forest Activists in Pepper Spray Trial

by press release

Thu, Apr 28, 2005 7:11PM

Jury votes no pepper spray on non-violent protestors.

San Francisco - After three days of deliberations, the Federal jury returned a verdict finding that Humboldt County Sheriffs used excessive force when they daubed liquid pepper spray into the eyes of forest activists. The eight activist plaintiffs were arrested in 1987 at three separate protests in Humboldt County as they worked to save the Headwaters Forest from logging.

The unprecedented application of pepper spray on passive, immobile protesters was part of a "get tough policy" implemented by the County as more and more people protested liquidation logging of redwoods in Northern California. The activists injured by the sheriffs’ applications of pepper spray sued the Humboldt County Sheriffs' Dept. and Eureka Police in 1998, arriving at the current trial in federal court in San Francisco after two previous trials that ended without verdict.

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For more information: http://www.nopepperspray.org

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§oh, I see

by Steve

Fri, Apr 29, 2005 8:29AM

Oh, I see. It was a "moral victory". Sure, uh huh. I believe you can spend your dollar on a double hamburger at McDonald''s.

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§moral victory, um more than that

by tkat

Fri, Apr 29, 2005 10:45AM

the victims only got a dollar each, but the humbolt sherrifs dept has to pay for their legal bills. That could be tens of thousands of dollars. That is pretty good. cheers to them for keeping up the fight.

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§The Tax Payer Blues

by The Crying Q-Tip

Sat, Apr 30, 2005 8:15AM

All in all it is a policy victory rather than moral or monetary. I doubt any side of the issue is delighted in seeing Humboldt County covering the court costs for a seven year battle. While the County could have settled earlier, the financial hit to an already precarious budget will have significant negative impacts, possibly for years to come. This clouds any claim to a moral victory, but I guess it's better than a soft chemical doused stick in the eye.

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