Excerpt from 48 Hills
By Tim Redmond | Read the full story here.
Attorneys for four young people arrested during the Dolores Hill Bomb skateboard event last June filed suit today in federal court asking for substantial damages after police swept up 113 people, held many for as long as seven hours in the cold without food or water or bathroom facilities, and violated the city’s own rules on parental notification.
The federal case seeks class action status, which would allow the attorneys to represent all of the young people arrested at the event.
Rachel Lederman, the lead counsel in the case, announced at a press conference today that “the police didn’t follow any of their policies” and that the plaintiffs were seeking not only money damages but a court order declaring them innocent of any crimes and sealing all arrest records.
Remember, the majority of the people arrested were under 18. These are local high school kids who are applying to college, looking for jobs, and thinking about the future—and a criminal record, or even a record of an arrests, can be an impediment.
Although none of them face charges at this point, the district attorney could still file against them until next June.
“We want their records cleansed,” she said.
The SFPD reported that a Muni train was vandalized that night, and it appears District Attorney Brook Jenkins is filing charges in connection with that incident.
But that happened at 18th and Church, and Lederman said that none of the people caught up in the mass arrests at 17th and Dolores have been connected to any criminal activity.