By MARYCLAIRE DALE
PHILADELPHIA — Occupy
Philadelphia protesters can go forward with a lawsuit accusing police of
unlawful arrest, retaliation and other civil rights violations, a federal judge
ruled Thursday.
More than two dozen protesters
sued after they were acquitted of criminal charges stemming from their November
2011 clash with police. The confrontation came as city officials urged the
protesters to move after seven weeks outside City Hall.
Philadelphia police arrested
the protesters even though they complied and marched through downtown, the
lawsuit said. They were charged with conspiracy, failure to disperse and
blocking a roadway.
In Thursday's ruling, U.S.
District Judge Berle Schiller upheld most of their claims, including
retaliation, unlawful arrest and malicious prosecution. He dismissed their
excessive force and illegal search claims for lack of evidence.
"You can't tell people to
do something, and then when they comply with an arguably illegal order to begin
with, arrest them, and charge them, when they're simply exercising their
constitutional rights," Lloyd Long III, a lawyer for the protesters, said
Thursday.
A city solicitor did not
immediately return a call for comment. However, in court papers, she said the
lawsuit failed to specify which officers and plaintiffs were involved in each
of the various allegations.
The protesters had set up camp
in October in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street protesters in New York,
speaking out against economic inequality and alleged corporate greed. City
officials evicted them at the end of the next month, citing long-planned
renovation work at the site.
The defendants include Police
Commissioner Charles Ramsey and other police supervisors and officers. The
lawsuit seeks unspecified damages.
