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ACLU Foundation of Colorado
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Colorado ACLU Cases
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Legal Department Docket, 2002-Present
Case Name: Acks v. City and County of DenverCase Number: 2009-CV-8007
ACLU Case Number: 2008-22
Description: This lawsuit focuses on events of the evening of August 25, 2008, during the Democratic National Convention. During the early evening hours of the first day of the DNC, a solid line of riot-equipped police shut down a protest march as it proceeded on 15th Street and the adjoining sidewalks in downtown Denver. A second line of police quickly closed in from behind, confining hundreds of persons in a one-block stretch of 15th Street between Court and Cleveland.
The encircled group included participants who had been marching legally on the public sidewalks as well as persons who had been marching in the street without the required permit. It also included legal observers, curious onlookers, members of the press, and other nonparticipants.
The lawsuit asserts that Denver carried out an arbitrary and groundless mass arrest, without probable cause, of 96 individuals, knowing that the group included numerous innocent persons, including the eight individual Plaintiffs in this case.
All Plaintiffs were charged with failing to obey a lawful order to disperse. After Denver finally acknowledged that no such dispersal order had ever been issued, Denver nevertheless persisted in prosecuting the plaintiffs for “obstructing” a public right of way by allegedly marching in the street without a permit. All cases eventually resulted in acquittals after jury trials or dismissal of charges.
Arrestees were locked into holding cells at a Denver warehouse converted into a detention facility for DNC-related arrests. At that detention facility, Denver refused to allow attorneys to meet with or speak with any of the arrestees.
The lawsuit seeks damages for the eight Plaintiffs who were falsely arrested in violation of their rights under the First and Fourth Amendments. Pursuant to a Colorado statute that requires jailers to allow arrestees to meet with attorneys, C.R.S. § 16-3-404, the ACLU lawyers also sued on behalf of all individuals who were ensnared in the mass arrest on 15th Street and detained at Denver’s detention facility.
Issues: Freedom of Expression; Police Practices; Rights of Prisoners
ACLU of Colorado Attorneys: John Culver, Seth Benezra, Lonn Heymann, Mark Silverstein, Taylor PendergrassLinks to Selected Documents:
- Complaint, filed August 19, 2009
- Read the ACLU’s letter of April 29, 2008, asking Denver officials for assurances Denver would comply with Colorado law requiring confidential attorney-client visits.
- Read the ACLU’s letter of August 6, 2008, asking Denver officials for assurances Denver would comply with Colorado law requiring confidential attorney-client visits.
- Read the ACLU’s letter of August 27, 2008, describing the events of August 25, 2008, just days after the mass arrests took place.
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Watch video of Plaintiff Tiffany Bray as her arresting officer swears under oath that Bray was “marching in an illegal formation” and given an order to disperse by Sgt. Foster.
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Watch video of Plaintiff Chase Goll as his arresting officer swears under oath that Goll disobeyed “3 separate orders” to disperse given by Sgt. Foster.
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Watch a video of Plaintiff Eli Hardy as DPD Officer Sutton swears under oath that Hardy disobeyed a dispersal order given 3 times over a loudspeaker by Sgt. Foster.
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Read excerpt of Sgt. Foster's testimony admitting that no dispersal order was ever given.
- News coverage of the lawsuit will be added here as it occurs
Go to ACLU of Colorado’s DNC page
Back to the Legal Department Docket