July 17, 2000
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Two and a half years after Humboldt County Sheriffs unwittingly kicked off international outrage at their pepper spray tactics, the department is in the hot seat again. The very same officers now find themselves in another sticky, or rather stinging, situation arising from the same pepper spray incidents. On May 4, the Ninth Circuit US Court of Appeals issued a unanimous verdict against the defendants, the Humboldt Sheriffs, and in favor of the plaintiffs, those of us who were pepper-swabbed and sprayed for defending the forest.
In late 1998, we filed with the appeals court to ask for a reversal of Federal District Court Judge Walker?s decision to toss our civil rights suit out of court after a jury split 4-4. We also disputed the ?qualified immunity? protection Walker granted to the policy-making officers, which dropped their names from the suit and let them off the hook from personal liability, leaving only the faceless department entities. We won hands-down on both aspects of our appeal.
?A rational juror could easily conclude that there was sufficient evidence for a verdict in favor of the plaintiffs. Accordingly, we reverse the district court?s decision to enter judgment for defendants Humboldt County and its Sheriff?s Department,? the appeals court ruled. ?We remand this action for a new trial.? The appeal decision also addressed in depth the liability of the individual officers and concluded that ?the district court erred in deciding that these officials were entitled to qualified immunity as a matter of law. We reverse the district court?s decision to dismiss Sheriff Lewis and Chief Deputy Sheriff Philp.?
This landmark decision makes legal precedent that will be helpful to activists fighting the growing law enforcement trend of chemical weapons deployment to quell political dissent. ?Headwaters Forest vs. Humboldt County? now provides new case law that helps to undermine the sinister ?qualified immunity? protection often afforded to officers in all kinds of excessive force cases. Abolitionist Frederick Douglas wisely said, ?Power concedes nothing without a demand.?
When the pepper spray videotapes hit the news, outrage sparked debate and action, which has only intensified after further incidents like the WTO Seattle protests. Our pepper spray case would never have made it this far without people raising some hell about injustice, so thank you, everyone. Let our songs and actions, our love and rage, be our demand, and let it bring about a wilder, greener world.
For more information, contact the Pepper Spray Fund c/o Trees Foundation. To obtain a video documentary by Headwaters Action Video Collective (HAVC), ?Fire in the Eyes,? showing police pepper spray footage and background on the struggle for the ancient redwoods, contact HAVC via email or telephone. To read the full Ninth Circuit Court appeal decision, along with other articles and links about our case, check out www.monitor.net. If you loathe computers and the internet, write to the Pepper Spray Plaintiffs c/o Trees, and we?ll send you any materials you want in hard copy.
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TOC for Headwaters Update, Summer 2000