In a hearing that began Thursday morning, recessed multiple times, and ultimately finished up midday today, Judge Nelson Lee made modifications to his earlier approval of SPD’s subpoena for the footage that several local news media companies took of criminal activity at the May 30 protest and riot. He then (mostly) stayed that order for 21 days to allow the news companies to appeal his ruling.
Continue readingCategory: police
Trial date set for contempt charges over SPD use of crowd-control weapons (UPDATED)
This morning, Judge Richard Jones set a trial date and determined several other parameters for his consideration of contempt charges over SPD’s alleged violation last Saturday of a preliminary injunction that restricts the department’s use of crowd-control weapons. The five-day trial will begin on August 26 and conclude on September 1.
Continue readingJudge Jones orders evidentiary hearing on SPD contempt charge
This afternoon, Judge Richard Jones issued an order calling for an evidentiary hearing to resolve the accusation by the ACLU and Black Lives Matter Seattle-King County that the Seattle Police Department violated the judge’s preliminary injunction and is thus in contempt.
Continue readingCity responds to motion for contempt, denies wrongdoing
Late this afternoon the City of Seattle filed a response to the motion earlier this week by Black Lives Matter and the ACLU to hold the city in contempt for violations of the preliminary injunction put in place by Judge RIchard Jones last month. That injunction put restrictions on SPD’s use of crowd-control weapons, include tear gas and blast balls.
Continue readingSPD subpoenas footage of protests from local media organizations
“For more than three centuries it has now been recognized as a fundamental maxim that the public (in the words sanctioned by Lord Hardwicke) has a right to every man’s evidence. When we come to examine the various claims of exemption, we start with the primary assumption that there is a general duty to give what testimony one is capable of giving, and that any exemptions which may exist are distinctly exceptional, being so many derogations from a positive general rule.” United States vs. Bryan (1950) On June 22, the Seattle Police Department delivered a subpoena to the Seattle …
Continue readingBlack Lives Matter asks court to find SPD in contempt for violating restraining order (UPDATED)
This afternoon, attorneys for Black Lives Matter Seattle-King County filed a motion with U.S. District Court Judge Richard Jones asserting that the Seattle Police Department violated his preliminary injunction last Saturday during the evening’s protests, and asked the judge to find the city in contempt. Update 7/28/3:30PM: see below Update 7/29/20 9AM: Judge Jones has moved the City’s filing deadline to 5pm Wednesday, and has set a hearing for 9am Friday 7/31.
Continue readingRobart grants DOJ request to enjoin Council’s crowd-control ordinance (UPDATED)
Earlier this evening, the Department of Justice filed a motion for a temporary restraining order to prevent the Seattle Police Department from implementing the City Council’s ban on crowd-control weapons. This follows Judge James Robart’s refusal earlier this week to prevent the ordinance from taking effect this weekend. UPDATE: in a hearing this evening, Judge Robart indicated that he will be granting the DOJ’s request, enjoining implementation of the Council’s ordinance, and rolling the status quo back to the order that Judge Richard Jones made on June 12. UPDATE 2: here is the temporary restraining order. UPDATE 3: added Mayor …
Continue readingJudge Robart leaves Council’s ban on crowd-control weapons in place, for now
In a nine-page ruling this afternoon, U.S. District Court Judge James Robart declined to stop the City Council’s ban on crowd-control weapons from going into effect later this week — at least for the moment. Robart did acknowledge that the ordinance will need to be reconciled with SPD’s court-approved policies on crowd control and use of force, but at the urging of the Office of Police Accountability and Office of the Inspector General he will wait until they provide their recommendations next month before wading into that issue.
Continue reading“Defunding SPD” is going to be a lot harder than anyone thinks
Yesterday’s acknowledgement by the city that the Council’s ban on “less lethal” weapons violated the terms of the 2012 Consent Decree points to a much larger issue: efforts to “defund” and re-imagine the Seattle Police Department will face a complex web of legal, labor, and contractual impediments that will drag out the process for several months or possibly years.
Continue readingOrdinance banning “less lethal” devices violates Consent Decree, says DOJ and police monitor
In an official notice filed with the U.S. District Court, today the City of Seattle acknowledged that it has been advised by the Department of Justice and the court-appointed police monitor that on June 15th when the City Council passed a sweeping ban on most “less lethal” devices used for crowd control (including tear gas and blast balls), it violated the Consent Decree.
Continue reading