{"article":{"id":295040,"heading":"PCJF Opposes Appointment of Free Speech\/Civil Rights Violator to be Next D.C. Police Chief","author":"DC repost idVer:375e79d13a7449814a4eea30d7958","created":"2017-02-28 20:28:26","modified":"2017-02-28 20:28:26","last_modified":"Wed, 01 Mar 2017 03:28:26","article":"http:\/\/www.justiceonline.org\/pcjf_opposes_appointment_of_free_speech_civil_rights_violator_to_be_next_dc_police_chief<\/a>
PCJF Opposes Appointment of Free Speech\/Civil Rights Violator to be
Next D.C. Police Chief
February 28, 2017
Newsham Commanded Infamous Pershing Park Mass False Arrest of Hundreds
of Demonstrators, Reporters, Legal Observers, Tourists and Passers-by
Willfully Repeated Violations of the Law Just Last Month on Inauguration Day
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ointment%20of%20Free%20Speech%2FCivil%20Rights%20Violator%20to%20be%20Next%20DC%
20Police%20Chief&tw_p=tweetbutton&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.justiceonline.org%2Fnew_d_c_police_chief_peter_newsham_directed_mass_unconstitutional_arrests&via=ThePCJF>
Donald Trump in the White House. Protestors in the streets of the
nation's capital. A notorious violator of free speech rights as the
Chief of Police?
When Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser announced Peter Newsham as
her pick to be chief of the DC Metropolitan Police Department the
Partnership for Civil Justice Fund immediately spoke out in
opposition, providing one of the few voices standing up against this
wrong and dangerous choice. Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, Executive
Director of the PCJF, was quoted in The Washington Post calling
Newsham, “a serial mass violator of civil rights” who is “not fit to
be chief of police.”
As a result of hard fought legal and community efforts, there have
been great strides in the police's response to mass demonstrations in
Washington, D.C. over the past decade. But as quickly as Newsham
assumed the interim chief position we've witnessed the clock turning
back, starting with inauguration day's dragnet arrests of hundreds and
mass indiscriminate use of force.
Please read the article below from Alternet
<http:\/\/www.alternet.org\/activism\/protesters-beware-dc-mayor-appoints-new-police-chief-long-record-mass-arrests-and-depriving<\/a>>.
As Newsham's confirmation process moves forward, including D.C.
Council hearings, we will update you on actions you can take to join
in opposition and stand up for First Amendment rights. (Please be sure
you are signed up for PCJF alerts.)
<http:\/\/www.justiceonline.org\/join<\/a>>
Protesters Beware: D.C. Mayor Appoints New Police Chief With Long
Record of Mass Arrests and Depriving Rights
Peter Newsham defends past mass arrests that cost city millions in
legal judgments.
By Steven Rosenfeld \/ AlterNet February 25, 2017
At a time when the right to protest in the nation’s capital has never
been more important, Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has
appointed an abuser of First Amendment freedoms, Peter Newsham, as the
city’s new police chief.
From the Pershing Park mass arrests of 2002 to dragnet arrests at
Donald Trump’s inauguration, Newsham has shown a recurring pattern of
violating protesters’ civil rights, said one of the lawyers who sued
the city after the 2002 protests and won a multi-million-dollar
judgement for protesters and policing practice reforms.
“As people are taking to the streets in the Trump era to protest
throughout the United States, and in particular here in the nation's
capital, it is critical that fundamental First Amendment rights be
afforded protection,\" said Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, executive director
of the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund (PCJF), which also defended
those arrested in New York’s Occupy protests.
But the stakes in Washington are arguably bigger than in other cities,
as this is where the White House, Congress and top federal agencies
are seated. Newsham’s appointment sends “a chilling message to all
those who are coming out to stand in defense of targeted communities
and against bigotry,” Verheyden-Hilliard said.
His use of mass arrests is a matter of public record. PCJF litigated
the Pershing Park case, which resulted in more than $10 million in
damages for nearly 400 persons and major changes in the city’s laws
governing police handling of demonstrators ― laws Newsham apparently
violated just one month ago.
After years of litigation, in which PCJF deposed Newsham under oath,
federal courts found Newsham could be held liable for the mass
violations of constitutional rights and dismissed his justifications
as “nothing short of ludicrous.” In that case, the court found his
mass arrest had no lawful basis and denied his request for qualified
immunity, stating “[n]o reasonable officer in Newsham’s position could
have believed that probable cause existed to order the sudden arrest
of every individual in Pershing Park.” Demonstrators were illegally
arrested and held for 24 hours or more, and hogtied in
stress-and-duress positions. The D.C. Circuit described in ample
detail “just how indefensible Newsham’s actions were.”
That litigation resulted in the D.C. City Council's enactment of the
First Amendment Rights and Police Standards Act, which guides police
responses to demonstrations, including when property is damaged or
violence occurs, to ensure that protesters are not wrongfully
arrested. Yet Newsham appears to have violated this standard at
Trump’s inauguration.
At the press announcement of his appointment, Newsham again dismissed
his Pershing Park mass arrests, saying, “My decision at the time was a
decision that I thought was in the best interest of the District of
Columbia and of public safety… The Metropolitan Police Department
learned a great deal from that experience that we have taken to today,
and I think it was exhibited during the inauguration.”
Verheyden-Hilliard said nothing could be further from the truth.
“To this day Newsham refuses to acknowledge his extreme illegal
misconduct in violating the civil rights of hundreds of people,
despite the court rulings against him, making it clear that he is
unwilling or incapable of upholding the constitution,” she said. “At
the protests at Donald Trump’s inauguration just one month ago he
plainly acted in willful violation of the law and engaged in yet
another illegal mass dragnet arrest, including falsely arresting
journalists and lawful protesters rather than those committing illegal
acts, as well as deploying indiscriminate and brutal use of chemical
munitions against civilians. Peter Newsham is unfit to be chief of the
Metropolitan Police Department.”
Verheyden-Hilliard said the D.C. City Council should reject the
mayor’s appointment of Newsham as police chief. But it likely won’t,
casting an ominous shadow on protesters’ rights in the nation’s
capital when acts of resistance are among the few options for citizens
who disagree with Trump’s rule.
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-=-=-
Partnership for Civil Justice Fund - United States
http:\/\/www.justiceonline.org\/<\/a>
http:\/\/www.justiceonline.org\/victory_in_two_major_class_action_civil_liberties_lawsuits<\/a>
Victory in two major class-action civil liberties lawsuits
Posted on December 16, 2009
After nearly seven years of class action litigation, the Partnership
for Civil Justice Fund is pleased to announce a victorious $8.25
million settlement on behalf of a class of nearly 400 persons who were
arrested in Pershing Park in Washington, D.C., in September 2002,
Barham, et al. v Ramsey, et al.
http:\/\/www.justiceonline.org\/federal_judge_hails_historic_free_speech_settlement_between_the_pcjf_and_federal_gov_t<\/a>
Federal judge hails \"historic\" free speech settlement between the PCJF
and federal gov't
Posted on June 23, 2015
Calls settlement's police reforms \"a model for other law enforcement agencies\"
After nearly 13 years of litigation, a federal judge has approved an
unprecedented settlement between the Partnership for Civil Justice
Fund (PCJF) and the Justice Department and the Department of the
Interior that will significantly change the handling of mass protests
in the United States.
The settlement lays out policies and rules that, among other
requirements, effectively prohibit the \"trap and detain\" kettling
tactic and use of police lines to encircle demonstrations; prohibits
mass sweeping arrests of protestors by emphasizing the requirement of
individualized probable cause before arrests at free speech
activities; and in circumstances where there is a lawful basis for a
dispersal order, requires fair notice and warning to demonstrators as
well as opportunity to comply with police orders to disperse, to be
given three times at least two minutes apart and with avenues of exit
announced through effective sound amplification.
Noting that the Department of Justice is a signatory to the \"extremely
significant settlement\" with the PCJF and has an \"active role\" in
\"reviewing practices and procedures of local law enforcement\" across
the country, Judge Emmet G. Sullivan stated that the reforms embedded
in the agreement should \"serve as a model for other law enforcement
agencies,\" and urged that they \"take a hard look at this settlement\"
in an effort to comply with Constitutional standards.
http:\/\/www.justiceonline.org\/truly_historic_settlement_approved_in_pershing_park_cl<\/a>
\"Truly Historic Settlement\" Approved in Pershing Park Class Action
Posted on September 21, 2010
Judge says attorneys worked to \"protect future generations of protesters.\"
U.S. Federal Judge Emmet G. Sullivan issued final approval to an $8.25
million class action settlement of an eight-year-long and hard-fought
litigation battle over the mass arrests of nearly 400 people in
Pershing Park in Washington, D.C., in September 2002. Judge Sullivan
stated, \"By all accounts, this has been a long and historic journey
and this can only be viewed as a truly historic settlement.\"
\"This historic settlement closes the door on a period when engaging in
protest in Washington, D.C., meant risking being snatched up by the
police without notice or warning, being hog-tied wrist-to-ankle in a
contorted stress-and-duress position, and left in that painful and
sleep-deprived position for hours and overnight without any chance for
release,\" stated Carl Messineo, attorney with the PCJF.
Discussing what he called \"critical\" and \"substantial reform,\" Judge
Sullivan stated that the attorneys had worked to \"protect future
generations of protesters.\"
\"The reforms established through litigation and legislation have
completely changed the landscape for protest in the nation’s capital.
Repeated lawsuits by the Partnership for Civil Justice, legislative
intervention by the D.C. Council, the steadfast commitment of the
Class Representatives to these lawsuits, and thoughtful and careful
judicial oversight have all together worked to produce this historic
outcome,\" stated Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, attorney with the PCJF. \"The
results of these constitutional rights lawsuits also send a message
nationwide, that there will be a significant price to pay for
violations of fundamental free speech rights,\" stated
Verheyden-Hilliard.\n","contact":"","link":"http:\/\/www.justiceonline.org\/pcjf_opposes_appointment_of_free_speech_civil_rights_violator_to_be_next_dc_police_chief","address":"","phone":"","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"text\/plain","summary":"PCJF Opposes Appointment of Free Speech\/Civil Rights Violator to be Next D.C. Police Chief","numcomment":0,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/","filesize":null,"article_url":"\/news\/2017\/02\/295040.php"},"attachments":[],"comments":[]}