{"id":1619,"date":"2008-02-03T13:26:11","date_gmt":"2007-12-20T07:49:51","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2007-12-20T07:49:51","slug":"en-US","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/fourthamendment.com\/?p=1619","title":{"rendered":"Los Angeles May Day 2007 clash certified as a class action"},"content":{"rendered":"

The LAPD’s May Day 2007 clash with Hispanics where “less than lethal force” was used was granted class certification status, including on excessive force grounds. The LAPD’s own continuing investigation<\/a> (Report on Mac Arthur Park Incident) was not reason for the court to defer. Multi-Ethnic Immigrant Workers Org. Network v. City of Los Angeles<\/a>, 246 F.R.D. 621 (C.D. Cal. 2007):<\/p>\n

(b) Third, Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Claims for Relief: Fourth Amendment and related state claims for excessive force.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Fourth Amendment prohibits the use of unreasonable force in effecting a search or seizure of a suspect. The LAPD use or threat of force against the assembled crowd may constitute a seizure, although there are individual factual questions as to whether a given officer caused a particular individual to be displaced by the use or threat of force. The parties focus their arguments not on whether there was a seizure, but on whether the actions of the police officers were reasonable. Thus, Plaintiffs focus on the LAPD commanders’ authorization of “less lethal” force (as distinct from the application<\/em> of such force).<\/p>\n

At the hearing on this motion, Defendants opposed certification because the LAPD is in the process of investigating which individual officers may be subject to discipline or liability. However, the scope of the Department’s investigation is necessarily limited. It is difficult to determine the identity of the officers responsible for any particular injuries, because the officers wore riot gear that obscured their name tags and they fired munitions from various skirmish lines. Despite the extensive video coverage of the event, thus far the LAPD has identified only twenty-six officers for individual investigations. Hence, individualized assessments of whether an officer’s use of force was reasonable will not be possible for the majority of putative class members. The LAPD’s internal investigation is not a reason to defer certification.<\/p>\n

The Court recognizes that the conduct of individual officers in the field may present individual issues of reasonableness, namely whether it was reasonable under the circumstances for a particular officer to fire less-lethal munitions, use his baton to strike people, or use other forms of force, such as pushing and shoving.<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, the individual issues share a common source: the command decisions to disperse the crowd and to authorize the use of less-lethal munitions if the crowd’s behavior warranted it. LAPD Report at 8, 34-35. Because the legality of these command decisions is the overriding common question, the predominance requirement is met as to the Fourth Amendment claim.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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