Rage
Against the Machine and Thousands of Protesters Rock the
DNC, Aug. 27, 2008
Tense Veterans March Ends
Peacefully, Aug. 27, 2008
Youtube video of Police Mass Arrest,
including Legal Observer, Aug. 27, 2008 (by
DNCHal)
Youtube video of Police Unlawful Mass
Arrest, Aug. 27, 2008
Police
Trap Peaceful Protesters In Denver
[video], Aug. 27, 2008
Lawsuit Possible In Wake of Mass
Arrest, Aug. 27, 2008
Lawyers
Argue Monday Arrests Illegal, Aug. 27, 2008
Denver Police on
High Alert, Aug. 27, 2008
Lawyers
Volunteers to Represent DNC
Protesters, July 18,
2008
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ARTICLE: NLG PLP IN THE
NEWS
Cops' treatment of
protesters will get legal eagle eyes
By Felisa Cardona
The Denver Post
Article Last Updated: 07/18/2008 01:15:34 AM MDT
A group of Denver lawyers has joined together to provide
protesters at the Democratic National Convention with both
pre-confrontation training and post-arrest legal services
if necessary.
For several months, Denver attorney Brian Vicente has
dressed up like a police officer and conducted mock
protests with advocacy groups that plan to demonstrate at
the convention in the last week of August.
Legal observers wearing neon green hats have videotaped the
mock protests and written down what went right and what
went wrong.
The Colorado Chapter of the National Lawyer's Guild formed
the DNC-People's Law Project shortly after the city
announced the convention would be held in Denver.
"We want to have peaceful protests where messages of social
justice can flourish," said Vicente, the project's
executive director. "Everybody we've talked to is very
passionate, and they feel that their issues are not being
addressed by the two-party system."
Today the project is holding a public seminar on dissent
and First Amendment rights hosted by Denver civil-rights
lawyer David Lane. Former 10th Judicial District prosecutor
Sean Dingle also will participate in the discussion.
The attorneys decided that training demonstrators and
lawyers on First Amendment issues was key to advancing free
speech and avoiding unnecessary arrests during the
convention. Vicente says the law project needs more lawyers
to volunteer before and during the convention to train as
legal observers or to take cases that may arise from
arrests.
He said the group will train lawyers on First Amendment law
because some attorneys who volunteer might practice only in
an unrelated field, such as tax law.
Lawyers and others interested in volunteering for the
People's Law Project may contact the organization at
www.dnc-plp.org
The group will run a 24-hour legal office and a hotline in
Capitol Hill during the convention, providing legal
assistance to demonstrators and the public who run into
constitutional violations.
In 2004, police arrested 1,800 people at the Republican
National Convention in New York and many were held for more
than 50 hours in jail, according to the People's Law
Project.
At the Democratic National Convention in Boston that same
year, free-speech advocates were outraged by the caged
distance between them and the delegates.
Vicente said that in Denver, past arrests of Columbus Day
protesters were not handled well by police.
"People were arrested and detained for an unreasonable
amount of time," Vicente said. "It's crucial that people
educate themselves."
Legal observers — attorneys and activists — trained by the
project plan to videotape demonstrations during the
convention to defend clients if a case goes to court.
Some of the training is focused on explaining where
protesters' rights begin and end. They don't have to allow
a police officer to search them or their belongings on the
street, for example. But if an officer asks them to take a
step back, they should comply and use common sense.
The People's Law Project has met with Denver police and
city officials so that authorities know that the legal
observers will be monitoring the protests.
Recent DU law school graduate Micky Devitt, 27, said she
trained with the program and plans to work as a legal
observer during the convention.
She said the mock demonstrations conducted by the People's
Law Project included not only protests but also scenarios
such as getting pulled over in a vehicle.
"I don't think all people know what they have a right to
say 'no' or say 'yes' to," she said. "They walked us
through what your rights are in situations and how to
handle it without escalating it."
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ARTICLE: THE POLICE AND
PROTESTS -- TRAIN NOW, SAVE LATER
It is yet to be seen whether the Denver
Police and the City will learn one lesson of the FTAA /
Miami, the WTO / Seattle, and the RNC / New York: when
police violate demonstrators' rights, protesters sue and
win.
http://www.startribune.com/opinion/commentary/26306529.html?location_refer=Most%20Viewed:Commentary
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TENT STATE UNIVERSITY
UPDATE
From the Rocky on June 24,
2008: "DNC War Protesters Might Get Booted from Park at
Night"
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/jun/24/20000-anti-war-protesters-plan-dnc-camp-out-city-p/?printer=1/
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ACLU SETTLES LAWSUIT FOR
JAIL POLICY AND PROCEDURES MANUAL
The ACLU of Colorado announced June 18, 2008 that it has
settled a lawsuit against Denver that sought the policy and
procedure manual that governs the processing and treatment
of detainees at Denver's downtown city jail, known as the
Pre-Arraignment Detention Facility, or PADF. As part of the
settlement, Denver agreed to disclose all portions of the
manual designated by the ACLU, and to pay $5,000 of the
ACLU of Colorado's attorney fees and costs. The PADF is
Denver's intake center, where arrestees are first taken to
be booked, fingerprinted, given the opportunity to post
bond, and housed until they are released or eventually
transferred to Denver's larger county jail.
According to the lawsuit, despite repeated requests from
the ACLU, Denver refused to disclose sections of the manual
claiming that disclosure would be "contrary to the public
interest." After a final request for voluntary disclosure
was again refused by Denver, the ACLU filed suit on May 19,
2008, seeking disclosure of the manual under the Colorado
open records laws. Just prior to the first court hearing in
the case that was scheduled for June 19, 2008, Denver
agreed to turn over all manual sections designated by the
ACLU on or before June 25, 2008, subject to redaction.
Under the terms of the settlement agreement, the ACLU can
challenge in court any redactions it believes are
unjustified.
A copy of the original Complaint can be found here:
http://www.aclu-co.org/docket/200809/200809_description.htm
The lead counsel in the case, John Culver, stated that
"Disclosure of the manual is firmly within the public
interest, and the City's policies at the jail should be
transparent and open to any member of the public who wants
to view them."
Disclosure of the manual was necessary in part, the ACLU
argued, because of the possibility of mass arrests in
connection with the upcoming Democratic National Convention
in Denver. Last Summer, the ACLU asked Denver police to
handle minor violations with a summons or a notice to
appear in court, a practice known as "cite and release."
Denver Police Department Deputy Chief Battista reportedly
responded that under Denver's current policy, police must
make full custodial arrests -- requiring detention in the
PADF -- for even minor violations connected with protests.
The ACLU argued in the lawsuit that the public had a right
to know whether Denver's policies and procedures at the
PADF were adequate to handle the mass influx of arrestees
that could results as a consequence of such a policy during
the DNC, especially after the events surrounding the
Columbus Day protests in October 2007 when just 82 arrests
overwhelmed the PADF and resulted in delays of up to 12
hours before arrestees who already posted bond were
released. At the 2004 RNC in NYC, police made over 1800
arrests causing serious problems with access to medical
care, food, attorneys, and sanitary facilities.
Another open records lawsuit on how Denver is spending
public money on less-lethal weaponry is set for hearing on
June 24, 2008 at 8:30 am in Denver District Court. For more
information, check out http://www.aclu-co.org/dnc/dnc.htm.
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PARKING LOT FOR
PROTESTS
At least it's the VIP parking lot . . . Unlike the process
for organizing DNC security, the fences will be
transparent. According to the June 10, 2008 Rocky,
A football field-size area now used for Pepsi Center VIP
parking will be turned over to protesters at this summer's
Democratic National Convention, an attorney for protest
groups said Monday.
The 50,000-square-foot section of Lot A will be surrounded
by a "transparent and sound-transparent fence" and
converted into a public demonstration area, said Steven
Zansberg, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union.
Proximity to the Pepsi Center has been a hot issue for
protest groups leery about a possible repeat of what
happened at the 2004 Democratic convention in Boston, where
cagelike areas made of concrete barricades, netting and
razor wire were established for protesters.
Denver officials have said since last summer that
protesters will get closer to the Pepsi Center since it is
not next to a freeway and railroad tracks as was the Boston
site four years ago.
The protest area will be just southwest of the Pepsi
Center's main entrance, Zansberg said.
Attorneys for the city did not disclose the precise
location within Lot A, which is about 350,000 square feet,
Zansberg said.
The city has said it will release that information by June
23 and any restrictions to be placed on protesters, such as
the number of people allowed in the area at one time, the
size of signs or banners or the hours when a public address
system may be used.
But the city and the U.S. Secret Service want to keep two
bits of information secret for security reasons: the height
of the fence and how close the demonstration area will be
to delegates entering and exiting the convention.
Lawyers for the protesters oppose that idea, and U.S.
District Judge Marcia Krieger on Monday set a June 30
hearing, if needed, to consider whether those details may
remain secret.
The ACLU and protest groups including the American Friends
Service Committee, CODEPINK and Troops Out Now Coalition
filed a federal lawsuit against the city and the Secret
Service last month.
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/jun/10/convention-protesters-get-a-lot---a-parking-lot/
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WHAT'S GOING ON IN ST. PAUL?
1. Poor
People's Economic Rights Campaign may defy parade
route
http://www.startribune.com/politics/national/conventions/21618474.html?location_refer=$urlTrackSectionName
2. Coalition to to
March on the RNC and Stop the War seeks to encircle Xcel
Center
http://www.startribune.com/local/20947814.html?location_refer=$urlTrackSectionName
3. RNC Protest
101: Sizing up the Twin Cities' Demonstration
Rules
http://www.minnesotaindependent.com/view/rnc-protest-101
For information on mass defense resources at the RNC in
Minnesota, check out the NLG chapter website!
http://www.nlgminnesota.org/
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DNC LAWSUIT UPDATE:
http://cbs4denver.com/local/convention.protests.lawsuit.2.744299.html
At hearing on June 9, 2008, the City and County of Denver
announced in court that they will provide information on
the general location of the "Demonstration Zone" at the
DNC, but the rest of the information (fencing, razor wire,
random searches, etc.) will only be provided under
protective order on June 23rd. Previously, the City argued
that any release of this information would jeopardize
national security. Oh, well, we guess a lot changes in a
few weeks.
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DENVER PREPARING FOR 3,000 ARRESTS
"Police Key In on Jail Space," Denver Post, May 2, 2008
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CITY OF DENVER INTENT ON
ARRESTING PEACEFUL PROTESTERS FOR MINOR VIOLATIONS
"Mass arrests at Democratic Convention?"
Denver
Post, May 1, 2008
Denver city officials have declared that there will be no
"Cite and Release" of protesters who are charged with any
law violations, including non-violent offenses under the
Denver Revised Municipal Code. What sense does it make to
arrest every individual who violates a municipal ordinance?
This policy will not likely deter individuals who want to
engage in non-violent civil disobedience and other forms of
peaceful protest. But it will guarantee an enormouse waste
of judicial and law enforcement resources (also known as
taxpayer money). A more reasonable policy would be to issue
citations requiring individuals to appear at a later date
in court. Failure to appear on a Summons results in an
arrest warrant and a hold on driving privileges (no matter
what state you live in).
The Colorado ACLU has filed a lawsuit concerning this
issue.
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CONVENTION PREPARATIONS
PROMPT SUIT BY ACLU AGAINST SECRET SERVICE AND DENVER
An article about the ACLU suit brought on behalf of a
coalition of protesters' organizations:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/03/us/03denver.html
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NYPD SPY TACTICS
EXPOSED
In February 2007, a federal judge ordered
the New York Police Department to stop videotaping innocent
protesters at political demonstrations.
The judge ruled the police have repeatedly violated what is
known as the Handschu guidelines that dictate how the
police carries out political investigations.
Today we broadcast never-before-aired police spy video that
show how the police conducted widespread surveillance
during the Republican National
Convention in 2004.
This story can be read at:
http://www.democracynow.org/2007/2/19/nypd_spy_tactics_exposed_democracy_now