Tuesday, April 3, 2007

Seattle Settles WTO Arrest Case

A federal jury found that Seattle violated the 4th amendment rights of WTO protesters(earlier post). Now the city has reached a settlement with the plaintiffs, agreeing to pay $1 million, to seal the records of the arrests, and to train police on why the mass arrests lacked probable cause. City Attorney Tom Carr believes that the city could have won an appeal, but the city's insurance company urged a settlement. The agreement has to be approved by Judge Marsha Pechman before it is final. City to pay $1 million to settle lawsuit over WTO arrests, Seattle Times, April 3, 2007.

1 comment:

Jay Taber said...

N30 was my first experience viewing live indymedia over the web. Watching Seattle police beat and mace seated kids singing We Shall Overcome on my computer terminal while watching talking heads on my TV declare a news blackout due to the danger of rioting protestors was a lesson in media studies I'll never forget.

This in mind, the Times quote is all the more revealing.