lawsuit

The CRASS (Community RNC Arrestee Support Structure) Civil Litigation Working Group has compiled some information to help you start taking the first steps toward filing civil suits to hold the state accountable for their actions during the RNC. That's right, we've pulled together info to help you sue the bastards!

On Friday afternoon, a press conference will be held at St. Paul City Hall to announce the first lawsuit stemming from the pre-emptive raids on anti-RNC organizers. Laywers representing Mike Whalen of St. Paul will seek $250,000 in damages from the raid on Whalen's duplex on Iglehart Avenue August 30. The raid turned into a tragic comedy of errors when the SPPD and assisting agencies - apparently targeting I-Witness Video - came with a warrant for the wrong address and detained dozens of people in the backyard, creating a storm in the independent press. Later authorities cited Arise! Bookstore in Minneapolis, imprisoned activist Sara Jane Olson, and alleged deliveries of weapons that turned out to be vegan outreach literature as reasons for the raid.

Below is a press release from Ted Dooley of the National Lawyer's Guild. The conference is at 3pm on Friday.

Excerpted from www.AffordableLawsuits.com :

And so your next step is to realize that, even where you are unable to find relevant case law that mirrors your fact situation, you will likely develop an appreciation for the kind of factual reasoning styles that underlie these cases. In other words, your familiarity with reading case law - even if you just dip in - will enable you to step out of your own shoes and make a clear-headed evaluation of the merits of your own evidence and arguments.

from www.protestrnc2008.org

A lawsuit for damages totaling $75,000 will be filed in Federal Court, July 2, by attorneys representing Mick Kelly. Kelly, an organizer for the Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War, was arrested outside the Xcel Center June 5 while passing out leaflets at the Obama rally. He was promoting the September 1 anti-war march at the Republican National Convention. Police placed him under arrest, then he was searched, put in a squad car and taken to the old police headquarters where he was cited for soliciting and peddling.