| Submit your comments on this article |
| Home Front: Culture Wars |
| And The Moonbats Think They've Won |
| 2005-05-01 |
| Law enforcement officers from two northern California counties were found liable Thursday for using excessive force by swabbing pepper spray in the eyes of logging protesters in 1997. A jury awarded eight plaintiffs $1 each. It was the third trial in the case; the first two ended in deadlocked juries in 1998 and 2004. The plaintiffs laughed and hugged outside the courtroom - and applauded when jurors left their chambers. "They did the right thing," said Terri Slanetz, a 42-year-old naturalist from Oakland. "We've been trying all along to get a statement that this was illegal. It's a positive step toward people treating each other decently." The protesters claim their civil rights were violated when Humboldt County sheriff's deputies and Eureka police officers swabbed pepper spray directly in their eyes during the 1997 protest. The protesters argued the pepper spray was used to illegally punish and intimidate them for chaining themselves together and making it difficult for authorities to arrest them. Attorneys said the verdict would prevent the use of pepper spray on nonviolent protesters. "The plaintiffs were never in it for the money. They were in it for the principle," attorney Tony Serra said. The defendants in the case were Humboldt County, the city of Eureka, retired county Sheriff Dennis Lewis and current Sheriff Gary Philp, who was chief deputy sheriff at the time of the protest. "It's nice to have someone come in with some kind of resolution of the case," Philp said. "The nominal damages show that the jury thought no one got hurt." The protests took place at the Eureka office of then-Rep. Frank Riggs, and at the Scotia headquarters of the Pacific Lumber Co. Now they can join with the Taliban in claiming a "moral victory". |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #5 Now that there has been a judgement, the lawyers can now claim million$ in legal fees. SOP. |
| Posted by: Jackal 2005-05-01 10:56:34 PM |
| #4 they were awarded damages only because the pepper spray was swabbed directly into their eyes, not sprayed as per instructions. Yep, that was my only beef; they should've just blasted the bastards with the spray straight out of the dispenser. Either that or fill the whole room with tear gas. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2005-05-01 10:36:08 PM |
| #3 One of my favorite scenes in all of science fiction is "the massacre of the Comet Wardens" in Niven and Pournelle's Lucifer's Hammer. Lucifer's Hammer, 1977 time: late 70s place: mostly Southern California An amateur astronomer named Tim Hamner discovers a new comet on a course that will take it very close to the Earth. The comet nucleus will rain mountain size chunks all over the Earth if it happens to hit, causing tsunamis, drastic weather change, and effects akin go nuclear winter. In the weeks and months after Hamner's discovery, the chances of a collision grow from one in a million to one in a hundred to one in ten. A new religious cult, the Comet Wardens, forms in Southern California. Playing on the discoverer's name, their leader declares that the comet is the "hammer of God" sent to punish humanity for its wickedness. The Wardens dress in white robes and oppose all efforts to prepare for a possible collision, insisting that only prayer and repentance will save humanity. By the morning the comet is due, millions have already fled the LA basin for the hills and deserts. With a collision deemed ever more likely, the last hold-outs run for the hills, jamming the freeways. In a final spectacular demonstration, the white robed Comet Wardens chain themselves across a major traffic artery, snarling traffic for miles and trapping the panic stricken hordes in the city. The comet actually hits, dropping a huge asteroid into the ocean just off LA. It is clearly visible from the city, God's own tsunami is headed their way and thousands cannot escape. The Comet Wardens have thrown away the keys to their chains, there is no time or equipment to cut the chains and open the highway, and the police have fled. Thousands of would-be refugees realize that they are doomed and that they could have gotten away if not for the Comet Wardens, now helpless in their long chains as the vengeful mob pounces. They have about half an hour before the tsunami hits. Read it, it's good. |
| Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy 2005-05-01 4:48:28 PM |
| #2 IIRC - they were awarded damages only because the pepper spray was swabbed directly into their eyes, not sprayed as per instructions. I'd call it a loss, but then, I'm not a 42 yr old "naturalist" from Oakland. I have a job. Next time I'd take a cutting torch to those steel tubes, let the f*&kers feel some consequences |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-05-01 2:00:50 PM |
| #1 "A jury awarded eight plaintiffs $1 each." That's eight hundred times what I'd have awarded: I'd have given them a penny and told them to share it. |
| Posted by: Dave D. 2005-05-01 1:48:38 PM |