There was no reason for these mass arrests, not the least of which was because OPD's Crowd Control Policy - negotiated back in 2005 in response to even worse brutality against Iraq War protesters (right photo) - specifically forbids Oakland Police from behaving in the manner they did. However it provided no enforcement mechanism other than lawsuits. Thus OPD has repeatedly violated it knowing that any retribution would be years down the road and be borne by Oakland's taxpayers, not police officers.
$1,000,000 divided by 150 protesters - with half of that going to attorneys' fees - is little more than a sop. $3000 per for illegal arrest, dehumanization, mistreatment, suppression of 1st amendment rights both then and into the future, and possible psychological effects cannot be redressed for such a pittance and be called a fair settlement in any sense of the word.
The settlement does provide for new "mass arrestee" handling, booking and "cite and release" policies. The NLG learned the lesson of failing to including enforcement mechanisms when dealing with OPD, because this settlement also includes provisions for enforcement of the Crowd Control Policy and newly negotiated provisios.
... the settlement agreement reaffirms, and provides for court enforcement of OPD's Crowd Control Policy for a period of up to 7 years. The Policy was the result earlier litigation over abuses against protesters. "We brought the lawsuit in order to protect the constitutional right to dissent in Oakland, and enforce the OPD Crowd Control Policy," explained lead attorney Rachel Lederman.
Judge Henderson already has OPD under for-all-practical-purposes Federal control. In February he
appointed a Compliance Officer, Thomas Frazier, to enforce another settlement - the
Negotiated Settlement Agreement from 2003. This agreement, curbing such police practices as racial profiling and use of force violations, has yet to be fully complied with. Its continued lack of progress towards compliance over the last few years led the plaintiffs in the decade-old case to appeal to Judge Henderson to take sterner measures, culminating in the appointment of Frazier as Compliance Officer with a broad range of powers over OPD's procedures, policies and personel.
Now Henderson has yet another area of OPD non-compliance to deal with! Whether OPD can ever be forced to comply with the US Constitution and policies they themselves agree to remains to be seen, and history does not provide us with any confidence in this regard.
Oakland and OPD are facing another mass arrest lawsuit, this time of some four hundred Occupiers. This latest example of OPD's unfailing unwillingness to abide by its own agreements occurred on January 28th, 2012 when protesters, including some Kossacks, were kettled and mass arrested on Broadway outside the YMCA in Oakland (See ALL HOLY HELL HAS BROKEN OUT IN OAKLAND).
YMCA Kettle of 400+ protesters, 1/28/12
I can only speculate, but it seems that insofar as Oakland has admitted culpability in the Oscar Grant protest mass arrest case, they now have no leg to stand on in this case and should be eager to reach a similar settlement - even if it costs Oakland far more than $1,000,000 because of the larger number of arrestees.
This is only the tip of the monetary iceberg. At least three lawsuits arising from the Occupy protests in 2011 - involving being shot in the head and nearly killed (Scott Olsen), being beaten until nearly dead (Keyvan Sebeghi) and being shot at by OPD with rubber bullets for no reason whatsoever (Scott Campbell) are also pending.
Someday, the Oakland Police may be able to distinguish between peaceful protesters and 131 murderers. This decision does not harken that day. We are still waiting.
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11:08 AM PT: Good in-depth article on the settlement et al on Indybay, a local blog/independent news site
NLG Wins $1 Million & Reforms for OPD's Illegal Mass Arrest of Oscar Grant Protesters on Nov 5, 2010
11:20 AM PT: Another good article up in the East Bay Express
Oakland and Alameda County agree to Pay Protesters 1 Million
11:39 AM PT: From the EBE article:
Excerpts from OPD's radio traffic from that night reveal that police intended to surround and arrest anyone who engaged in a march without declaring unlawful assembly or following the department's own crowd-control policy.
11:43 AM PT: From the IndyBay article:
In effect, the arrests were illegal extrajudicial punishment enforced by the Oakland police and Alameda County sheriff's departments at the behest of city leaders.
11:46 AM PT: Tweet from Ali Winston, local investigative reporter
4:49 PM PT: Another good article:
National Lawyers Guild Obtains $1M for Oscar Grant Protesters, Oakland Police Reforms
4:50 PM PT: Another good article:
National Lawyers Guild Obtains $1M for Oscar Grant Protesters, Oakland Police Reforms
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