The Republicans committed many atrocities against democracy in the last election. The Swift Boat Smear Campaign,
the electronic voting debacle,
the 'America Votes' voter registration shredding... But the one that stood out to me as the most blatant violation of the constitution was the wanton imprisonment of protestors - and just about anyone else in the way - at the Republican National Convention. Even Dave Barry was accosted by a police officer, and only his press badge saved him from being shipped off to Pier 57, the makeshift prison in an old parking garage on the Hudson.
Detainees were held without being charged, in
unpleasant and possibly even
dangerous conditions.
And yet, it seems to be largely forgotten. (continued below)
At least some amount of litigation continues. A brief search turned up
two cases pursued by the New York Civil Liberties Union against the city of New York. I also found a
class-action suit, but I found no updates more recent than November, 2004. That site did have some interesting information with regards to the status of RNC cases. Assuming I'm reading it correctly (I am not a lawyer), they state that 1508 cases of been dismissed or aquitted, 150 have resulted in guilty pleas, and 12 have resulted in a guilty verdict. They state that 93 cases are open, and 43 bench warrants were issued (failure to appear before the court).
I'm unsure when those statistics were last updated. Still, a ratio of about 10-to-1 not guilties is a pretty poor showing. That's grounds enough for the suit, I'd think.
I've not found any suits at all filed against the RNC or the Secret Service. Also, I've not seen any criminal proceedings, despite the unconstitutional nature of the arrests and detainments.
Does anyone else have information to contribute? I don't want to see this fade away. How can we fight the atrocities across the ocean when we allow the Republicans to get away with atrocities in the heart of New York City?