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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@seattlepi.com.
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