[Pressrelease] WTO protesters to receive $1 million

[Presswork G8 2007 (english)]

WTO protesters to receive $1 million 

City's settlement is largest and last to arise from suits 

Tuesday, April 3, 2007 

By COLIN MCDONALD
P-I REPORTER 

Seven years after being illegally arrested in Westlake Park, about 175 World 
Trade Organization protesters settled their claims with the city of Seattle 
for $1 million -- and promises to clear their records and improve police 
training. 

The settlement announced Monday is the largest -- and last -- to arise from 
dozens of lawsuits filed after the 1999 downtown protests. 

"The lesson here is that the police can respect the constitutional rights of 
protesters and at the same time protect the public safety," said Mike 
Withey, lead attorney for the plaintiffs. 

After legal fees are subtracted and members of the class action are properly 
identified, each will be eligible for between $3,000 and $10,000. 

So far, only half the plaintiffs have been contacted about the lawsuit, 
according to Public Justice, one of the law firms that argued the case for 
the protesters. 

For lead plaintiff Kenneth Hankin, no amount of money will ever replace what 
he lost after being arrested and jailed. 

"For three days, I lost my right to protest the WTO," said Hankin, a Boeing 
Co. engineer. "That still upsets me a great deal." 

In January, a federal jury found that Seattle police had violated the 
protesters' constitutional rights because they were arrested en masse, 
without any attempt to determine whether people had a right to be in that 
area at that time. 

The settlement, which requires approval from U.S. District Judge Marsha 
Pechman, avoids a damages phase to determine how much the city owed. 

The city's insurance company, National Union, decided it would rather pay 
than continue to fund the city's legal fight. The city already has paid a 
total of $800,000 to resolve WTO-related lawsuits. 

City Attorney Tom Carr maintained Monday that Seattle would have won on 
appeal by proving the police did not need individualized probable cause in 
such a mass disturbance. But he's happy to be moving on. 

"The city is pleased that the last of the WTO cases is resolved, and we 
believe the settlement is extremely reasonable," he said. 

Both sides emphasized that the settlement does not require any taxpayer 
dollars to be tapped. 

The deal requires Seattle to add copies of Pechman's rulings about the 
city's unlawful arrests to police officer training materials to help avoid 
repeating the mistake. 

"The proper lesson is to avoid repetition of the fiasco in Seattle by 
allowing peaceful protesters to gather -- as guaranteed by the 
Constitution," said Fred Diamondstone, another attorney for the plaintiffs. 

As part of the settlement, the city has agreed to clear the records of the 
plaintiffs and ask the Washington State Patrol, FBI and King County 
Sheriff's Office to do the same. 

Withey said he also will contact the New York Police Department, which he 
believes created a list of those arrested in Seattle after the WTO 
conference in preparation for the Republican National Convention in 2004. 

NYPD spokesman Michael Collins said he could not comment on whether such a 
list exists. 

According to court documents, the protesters were sitting in the park 
singing patriotic songs the morning of Dec. 1, 1999, when police began 
making mass arrests. 

Earlier that morning, a group of protesters ignored an emergency order by 
then-Mayor Paul Schell of a "protest-free zone" by marching into a "limited 
access" zone. 

The group, along with other protesters and pedestrians, was then corralled 
into Westlake, where they were arrested. 

"They just surrounded us," Hankin said. 

That week, 50,000 demonstrators flooded downtown Seattle, overwhelming local 
law enforcement and closing down sections of the city and the WTO 
conference. 

P-I reporter Colin McDonald can be reached at 206-448-8312 or 
colinmcdonald at seattlepi.com.