UC Davis Students File Lawsuit Against School Over Pepper Spraying Of Protesters

Seventeen University of California, Davis students and two alumni filed a lawsuit against school officials and police on Wednesday concerning a dramatic pepper spraying incident in November of last year that sparked a national backlash.

The complaint alleges UC Davis officials, including Chancellor Linda Katehi, and the UCPD violated the protestors constitutional rights -- including the rights of freedom of speech and assembly.

"On information and belief, certain plaintiffs were targeted by the police for forcible arrests based on their past political activism and associations at the University," the complaint read.

The ACLU is also charging UC Davis with violating their Fourth Amendment rights against "unreasonable search or seizure."

"The University needs better policies on how it deals with protests and protesters," said Mark E. Merin, one of the attorneys for the plaintiffs, in a statement. "Students deserve to know what went wrong and how this could be allowed to happen. They want to make sure it never happens again.”

UC Davis police and officials broke the law, the ACLU said, by "failing to provide or summon medical care for persons whom they had taken to jail and who they had reason to know needed immediate medical care."

"Using military-grade pepper spray and police violence against non-violent student protesters violates the constitution, and it's just wrong," Michael Risher, staff attorney at the ACLU of Northern California, and another one of the attorneys for the plaintiffs, said in a release. "When the cost of speech is a shot of blinding, burning pepper spray in the face, speech is not free."

Since the incident, multiple investigations throughout the UC system have been launched.

The University of California has also spent at least $100,000 in crisis communications consulting in the wake of the pepper spray backlash.

 

Comments

[Dogs And Cats]

03:43 AM on 02/28/2012

Freedom of speech: use it or lose it. Much is on the line here.

[evolvedtg]

03:25 PM on 02/27/2012

Whenever I see this I want to boot stomp these facists. I really cannot stand it.

[lblackw105]

12:02 PM on 02/25/2012

Remember when pepper spray was touted as the humane alternative to police shooting the citizens with firearms? Would we sit idly by and let the police shoot unarmed victims , seated on the ground and holding hands to show they had no weapons, not even fists? If they were later found guilty of "obstructing traffic", is the new penalty of illegal parking to be a shot in the face with a toxic substance?

[sheoples]

04:55 AM on 02/25/2012

NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW. NOT EVEN "AUTHORITIES"

badges mean jack when the "authorities" are committing a crime VIOLATING GUARANTEED 1st amendment rights of the constitution of the united states.

these police should be arrested for breaking the constitution of america.

last time i checked, constitution TRUMPS alllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll other local laws b/c the constitution is a NATIONAL law; something these dingdong cops don't have a concept of.



"We should never forget that everything Adolf Hitler did in Germany was "legal" and everything the Hungarian freedom fighters did in Hungary was "illegal." "
- Martin Luther King Letter from the Birmingham Jail




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qdxh-KaSBSg
"Police Brutality - Handled the Way It Should Be"

[Chuck Stazo]

01:11 PM on 02/24/2012

Of course they're suing, it's easy money.

[sheoples]

04:47 AM on 02/25/2012

Of course the 1% are shipping jobs overseas and cutting jobs in america. it's easy money.

[Klarsonent]

11:53 AM on 02/25/2012

It could very well be the "principle," and includes YOUR rights under the Constitution. Don't you get that?????

[Chuck Stazo]

07:48 AM on 02/27/2012

We'll see if it's about the principle, the amount they're asking for should be a pretty good indication of their intent. What I don't get is the use of 5 question marks, 1 would have driven your point home.

[eclord]

10:36 AM on 02/24/2012

Awesome. Great. I really hope justice is served, and that this doesn't fall under the radar (that seems to happen far too far too often when it comes to police misconduct).

[Manny12]

11:50 AM on 02/24/2012

LOL!!! You're the one that needs to use weapons to arrest kids... wuss. LOL.

[sgtscottm2]

12:18 PM on 02/24/2012

i think you exaggerate the word need. It's more like want. Oh and these aren't kids. They're grown adults.

[Chuck Stazo]

01:13 PM on 02/24/2012

Next time maybe they'll listen when they are asked to move along.

[occupythepress]

11:07 PM on 02/23/2012

The lawsuit is a good start but justice and I have full confidence that the students will win.
But justice will not be complete until he is brought to a criminal trial and serves his time.

[roymonson]

10:16 AM on 02/24/2012

Justice was served. They were warned multiple times and they surrounded the police demanding the release of others students that were arrested. They forced the police to act just to get media attention. The police used the least amount of force to get through the students that were obstructing them from leaving.

[Noons]

11:41 AM on 02/24/2012

They ordered the police to cease and desist an illegitimate action. They had every opportunity to release those students, but instead the decided to continue that illegitimate action and bring harm to the students whom they are meant to protect.

[occupythepress]

04:37 PM on 02/24/2012

The same argument would also justify the Kent State Massacre in the 1970.

[soma77]

10:17 PM on 02/23/2012

OWS California thank you for standing up. It reminds me of Kent State.

[sheoples]

04:50 AM on 02/25/2012

2x

[Mitakuye Oyasin]

10:00 PM on 02/23/2012

That's a good start. They need to sue the Police Dept as well and keep media pressure on the main officer with the itchy trigger finger - he is a future abuse of power lawsuit waiting to happen.

[roymonson]

10:19 AM on 02/24/2012

Have you seen the full unedited video. There was no itchy trigger finger. If anything they should have sprayed them earlier. What were the police supposed to do when they were surround by students threatening not to let them through until they released others protesters that were arrested. The police warned the students multiple times to let them through or they will be pepper sprayed.

[Noons]

11:42 AM on 02/24/2012

"What were the police supposed to do when they were surround by students threatening not to let them through until they released others protesters that were arrested"?

You answered your own question: Release the other protesters, and it would have been over.

[Mitakuye Oyasin]

12:46 AM on 02/25/2012

Constitutional rights trump both Campus and Police's desires for people to move. Pepper spraying peaceful protestors is a violation of human rights.

[tyger]

08:48 PM on 02/23/2012

Believe me, this case will be settled. The video is damning.

[mat3]

09:15 PM on 02/23/2012

You're right. I see a bunch of protesters not getting sprayed because they listened.

[sherlockhemlock]

05:17 AM on 02/24/2012

I see you not getting your head out of your azzwhole.

[ldzpplne]

11:47 PM on 02/23/2012

Here is the full video, not the edited one. The protesters had it coming for they way they were reacting to police orders, they also directly impeded the movement of the police by surrounding them and told them they would not let them go until they released the students they arrested. They committed many crimes in the full 15 mins and the police were very patient with them, more so than many other police departments would have been. Don't trust a 1 min edited video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhPdH3wE0_Y

[tyger]

10:00 AM on 02/24/2012

Do you really think you can change what I saw on the video. retired law enforcer, I know what is excessive force.

[Noons]

11:43 AM on 02/24/2012

No, that is not the full video. The full video is much, much longer, and shows that the police are clearly to blame for the whole thing. Don't trust an edited video with lots of commentary.

[Stoopid American]

08:39 PM on 02/23/2012

+1 for the students.

[infodoc1]

08:27 PM on 02/23/2012

"The police were surrounded by an angry mob, and had no choice but to pepper spray. What? There's footage on the internet? They haven't shut that thing down yet?"

[MGarr]

08:20 PM on 02/23/2012

Bravo!!!!!!!!!

[beio]

08:19 PM on 02/23/2012

Now we are talking...I hope they win big time. They deserve it. Gross abuse of power.

[Terri Skau]

08:38 PM on 02/23/2012

They've been using gross abuse of power at many of the OWS not just this one Yes I hope they win they did nothing wrong...;-)

[beio]

09:56 PM on 02/23/2012

true there's a few cops in NYC that should be sued personally as well as the state

[roymonson]

10:25 AM on 02/24/2012

People can not surround the police and impede justice without consequences. OWS will not win this one.

[Noons]

11:45 AM on 02/24/2012

Katehi already said that their orders were to make no arrest and to walk away at the first sign of resistance. She's in a real pickle now. She can try to maintain that line, and the cops get fired, or she'll have to testify under oath, and reveal that she lied in the aftermath, and she would be forced to resign.

[evolvedtg]

03:30 PM on 02/27/2012

Roy, maybe you should you-tube police brutality. You'll be on there for a looooonnnggg time.