Filed Date: April 13, 2001
Closed Date: July 15, 2010
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This class-action litigation arose out of the April 15, 2000, mass arrest of more than 670 people protesting upcoming World Bank and International Monetary Fund meetings by Washington, D.C., and federal law enforcement. The original complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on April 13, 2001, by 33 named plaintiffs, including individuals and organizations (the number of named plaintiffs shrunk to 14 by the time the court approved the settlement in the case in July 2010, and the caption name of the case changed at least twice due to plaintiffs terminating their involvement with the suit). Included in the suit were eight individual plaintiffs whose claims arose out of incidents at different locations or times from the mass arrest.
The plaintiffs sued the District of Columbia government, the Chief and Executive Assistant Chief of Operations of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) in DC, the MPD, a number of MPD officers, the United States, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and a number of federal law enforcement agencies and officers, seeking monetary and declaratory relief for violations of their First, Fourth, and Fifth Amendment rights, as well as false arrest, false imprisonment, assault, and battery. In addition, the plaintiffs also sought expungement of records of their arrests by both the District of Columbia and the federal government. The case was assigned to Judge Paul L. Friedman and Magistrate Judge John M. Facciola.
The plaintiffs filed for class certification on October 30, 2001. After the parties litigated various legal disputes for nearly five years, Magistrate Facciola recommended the class certification be approved, and Judge Friedman adopted his recommendation in full, granting the class certification on October 13, 2006. The class approved consisted of "[a]ll persons detained and arrested in Washington, D.C., on April 15, 2000, near 20 Street, N.W. and I and K Streets, N.W. in connection with the protest against the Prison Industrial Complex during the IMF/World Bank demonstrations."
In August 2006, Judge Friedman adopted in full another recommendation from Magistrate Judge Facciola, dismissing the plaintiffs’ demand for declaratory relief because the plaintiffs lacked standing.
In late 2009, the plaintiffs agreed to a settlement with the District of Columbia defendants, whereby the District of Columbia would pay a total of $13,302,500, divided as follows: $700,000 to the 14 class representatives ($50,000 each); $9,180,000 to settle the claims of all other eligible class members (no more than $18,000 per individual); $3,272,500 in attorneys’ fees; and $150,000 to provide for notification to eligible class members and administration of the settlement agreement and funds. The eight individual, non-class plaintiffs also received a collective total of $425,000 in the settlement.
In addition to the payments, the MPD agreed to require officers undergo additional training on First Amendment and mass demonstration policies and implement other changes to its practices for handling protests and similar First Amendment-protected events for a time period of three years. The settlement also declared the arrests of all class members null and void, and the District of Columbia agreed to expunge their arrest records and seek similar expungements from the federal government and any other states that might have the records, where applicable.
The final settlement was approved on July 15, 2010, and its terms stated the case would be dismissed with prejudice after three years. No public record of the exact date of dismissal has been found, so the case is now presumably closed.
Summary Authors
Ben Marvin-Vanderryn (11/3/2021)
For PACER's information on parties and their attorneys, see: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/4632314/parties/becker-v-district-of-columbia/
Facciola, John M. (District of Columbia)
Friedman, Paul L. (District of Columbia)
Klimaski, James R (District of Columbia)
Messineo, Carl L (District of Columbia)
Nickles, Peter J. (District of Columbia)
Onisko, Merrilyn Anne (District of Columbia)
Schember, Daniel McCrea (District of Columbia)
Spitzer, Arthur (District of Columbia)
Verheyden-Hilliard, Mara E (District of Columbia)
Weinglass, Leonard I (New York)
Facciola, John M. (District of Columbia)
Friedman, Paul L. (District of Columbia)
Klimaski, James R (District of Columbia)
Messineo, Carl L (District of Columbia)
Nickles, Peter J. (District of Columbia)
Onisko, Merrilyn Anne (District of Columbia)
Schember, Daniel McCrea (District of Columbia)
Spitzer, Arthur (District of Columbia)
Verheyden-Hilliard, Mara E (District of Columbia)
Weinglass, Leonard I (New York)
Wolfe, Zachary J. (District of Columbia)
Copeland, Chad Wayne (District of Columbia)
Efros, Ellen A. (District of Columbia)
Hashmi, Aaishah (District of Columbia)
Koger, Thomas Louis (District of Columbia)
Leidenheimer, Robert Ernest Jr (District of Columbia)
Love, Richard Stuart (District of Columbia)
Matini, Shana Lyn (District of Columbia)
Mullen, Martha J. (District of Columbia)
Parris, Lori S. (District of Columbia)
Pressley, Monique Daniel (District of Columbia)
Shine, Edith Margeurita (District of Columbia)
Smith, Peter S. (District of Columbia)
Utiger, Robert C. (District of Columbia)
See docket on RECAP: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/4632314/becker-v-district-of-columbia/
Last updated May 11, 2022, 8 p.m.
State / Territory: District of Columbia
Case Type(s):
Key Dates
Filing Date: April 13, 2001
Closing Date: July 15, 2010
Case Ongoing: No
Plaintiffs
Plaintiff Description:
All persons who were detained and arrested on April 15, 2000, near the area of 20 Street, N.W. and I and K Streets, N.W. in connection with the protest against the Prison Industrial Complex during the IMF/World Bank demonstrations.
Plaintiff Type(s):
Non-profit NON-religious organization
Attorney Organizations:
Public Interest Lawyer: Yes
Filed Pro Se: No
Class Action Sought: Yes
Class Action Outcome: Granted
Defendants
Charles H. Ramsey (District of Columbia, District of Columbia), Private Entity/Person
Terrance W. Gainer (District of Columbia, District of Columbia), Private Entity/Person
United States of America, Federal
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, Federal
Drug Enforcement Administration, Federal
Federal Bureau of Investigation, Federal
Federal Emergency Management Agency, Federal
National Park Service, Federal
United States Park Police, Federal
United States Secret Service, Federal
Defendant Type(s):
Case Details
Causes of Action:
Ex Parte Young (Federal) or Bivens
Ex parte Young (federal or state officials)
Constitutional Clause(s):
Due Process: Procedural Due Process
Unreasonable search and seizure
Availably Documents:
Injunctive (or Injunctive-like) Relief
Outcome
Prevailing Party: Plaintiff
Nature of Relief:
Injunction / Injunctive-like Settlement
Source of Relief:
Form of Settlement:
Court Approved Settlement or Consent Decree
Amount Defendant Pays: $13,302,500
Order Duration: 2010 - 2013
Content of Injunction:
Issues
General: