On April 26, 2007, three community activists filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York under the Civil Rights Act of 1871, U.S.C. 42 § 1983, and state law against the City of New York and two New York City Police Department police officers. The plaintiffs, represented by the Center for Constitutional Rights and private counsel, asked the court for both declaratory and injunctive relief.

Specifically, the plaintiffs alleged that the defendant officers violated their rights under the First, Fourth and Fifth Amendments when they arrested plaintiffs while the plaintiffs were recording the arrests of two other people.
According the complaint, all charges against the plaintiffs were dropped, but only after they were held in jail overnight and required to make at least 10 court appearances in relation to the incident. The plaintiffs also brought a Monell claim, alleging that the police department's policies encouraged violation of the plaintiffs' constitutional rights.

On September 19, 2008, the District Court (Judge Miriam Cedarbaum) accepted the parties' Stipulation of Settlement and Dismissal. As part of the settlement agreement, each of the three plaintiffs received $15,000 and fees from the defendants in exchange for dismissal of their complaint. The defendants did not admit any violation of the plaintiffs' rights.

Louisa Eberle - 10/14/2013


compress summary