Filed Date: April 30, 2012
Closed Date: April 22, 2019
Clearinghouse coding complete
On Apr. 30, 2012, five members of the Occupy Wall Street movement filed this lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, against the City of New York and individual New York City Police Department officers. The plaintiffs, represented by private counsel, sought class certification, as well as injunctive and declaratory relief under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging that officers of the NYPD violated their rights under the First, Fourth, and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution, as well as their rights under the Constitution of the State of New York. Specifically, the plaintiffs alleged that they were unlawfully detained by NYPD officers during an Occupy Wall Street demonstration held in New York City on Nov. 8, 2011.
The plaintiffs' claims arose from the NYPD's usage of barricades during the demonstration, when protesters gathered in Bryant Park. Their plan was to march toward a fundraising event attended by President Obama at the Sheraton Hotel and protest outside of the hotel. The plaintiffs alleged that they were illegally confined in a closed pen formed by police-erected barricades for nearly two hours. The plaintiffs alleged that they repeatedly asked to leave the enclosure, but the officers refused and threatened to arrest anyone who tried to leave, while tourists and journalists were permitted to leave the barricaded area. The plaintiffs were never arrested nor charged with any violation, misdemeanor, or crime.
The plaintiffs alleged that this conduct amounted to false arrest, and violated their First Amendment rights to freedom of speech, association, and assembly, as well as their Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable seizures. The plaintiffs also alleged that the defendants subjected them to selective enforcement in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Furthermore, the plaintiffs claimed that the other NYPD officers had an affirmative duty to assess the constitutionality of their actions, and that their failure to intervene amounted to a separate and distinct violation of plaintiffs' constitutional rights.
The plaintiffs argued that the NYPD's conduct violated a Stipulation of Settlement and Order in another Southern District of New York case, Stauber v. City of New York, 1:03-cv-9163. That settlement amended Section 213-11, 21(h)(3) of the New York Police Department Patrol Guide to state the following:
Barrier configuration for demonstrations should not unreasonably restrict access to and participation in the event. For example, attendees should be permitted to leave a barricaded area at any time. In addition, if crowd conditions and other circumstances permit, participants should be permitted to leave and return to the same area. Sufficient openings in the barricades should be maintained for purpose of permitted attendees to leave expeditiously and return to the event as described in this paragraph.
In their complaint, the plaintiffs asked the court to issue an order compelling the NYPD to comply with this section.
On Mar. 6, 2013, the defendants filed a motion to dismiss for (1) failure to state a claim and (2) failure to fulfill conditions precedent to filing suit. The defendants argued that the barricades amounted to a reasonable time, place, manner restriction under the First Amendment, and that the need to ensure the President's security rendered the plaintiffs' Fourth Amendment claim non-actionable. The defendants also pointed to New York General Municipal Law § 50-i(1), which sets forth certain procedures for suing the City. The defendants claimed that plaintiffs' had failed to comply with § 50-i(1), and that their claims were therefore barred.
On Nov. 21, 2013, District Judge Thomas P. Griesa for the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York denied the defendants' motion for judgment on the pleadings. Judge Griesa acknowledged that although it was "a close question as to whether [the complaint] states a valid cause of action for violation of constitutional rights . . . [t]he court believes that it is not appropriate at this stage to rule on the merits of the case." Berg v. Kelly, 12-cv-03391 TPG, 2013 WL 6153253, at *2 (S.D.N.Y. Nov. 22, 2013). However, the court noted that "a summary judgment motion, or cross-summary judgment motions, may be appropriate in order to avoid a drawn-out litigation with full discovery and trial." Id.
On Dec. 18, 2015, the plaintiffs filed an amended complaint. On Jan. 21, 2016, the defendants moved for summary judgment on all claims.
On Aug. 10, 2016, the district court granted in part and denied in part the defendants' motion for summary judgment. The court denied the defendants' summary judgment motion with respect to the Fourth Amendment false-arrest claim, the First Amendment retaliation claim, the Fourteenth Amendment selective-enforcement claim, and the failure-to-intervene claim, finding that genuine issues of material fact existed. The court also found that the defendants had failed to show that they were entitled to qualified immunity. The court granted the motion to dismiss with respect to the plaintiffs' § 1983 claims against the Commissioner of the NYPD and the Chief of Department of the NYPD, finding that they failed for lack of sufficient involvement in the alleged constitutional violations, as neither defendant was at the scene was at the scene of the protest. The court also dismissed the state constitutional claims, because as the plaintiffs had alternate remedies available under a federal statute such as § 1983, their state constitutional tort claims were "redundant and precluded" under Biswas v. City of New York, 973 F. Supp. 2d 504, 522 (S.D.N.Y. 2013).
On Sept. 9, 2016, the defendants appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, from the district court's opinion dated Aug. 10, 2016. The case was assigned Docket No. 16-3146. On Nov. 18, 2016, several of the plaintiffs-appellees moved to dismiss the appeal for lack of jurisdiction, but the Sixth Circuit denied the motion on Jan. 11, 2017. A Second Circuit panel of Judges Reena Raggi, Susan Carney, and Peter Hall ruled on the appeal on July 25, 2018 (897 F.3d 99). They noted that the officers did have a special need that could exempt them from the Fourth Amendment's probable cause requirement--the need to protect the President--but found that the ensuing detention procedure did not balance the competing interests of protecting the President, since the protesters were not allowed to leave at all while non-protesters successfully left the area in small groups without incident. However, they overturned the District Court's analysis that the officers were not entitled to qualified immunity because there was a question of material fact as to the mental state of the officers erecting the barricades. They stated that qualified immunity is analyzed through the lens of a reasonable officer, not the mental state of the officer at issue, and found that a reasonable officer protecting the President could think that this detention strategy did not violate any Constitutional rights. With this grant of qualified immunity, all the Constitutional complaints were invalidated, and the Second Circuit recommended that the District Court dismiss the case with prejudice.
District Court Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, assigned to the case since 2018, took up the Second Circuit's recommendation and declined to reargue the case on April 22, 2019. The decision to decline to reargue was based on a November 30, 2018 recommendation from Magistrate Judge Gabriel Gorenstein (343 F.Supp.3d 419). In the same order, he noted that all claims were now dismissed, and ordered the plaintiffs to pay attorney's fees. The case is closed.
Summary Authors
Greg in den Berken (7/21/2014)
Elizabeth Greiter (3/20/2018)
Ellen Aldin (5/29/2020)
Stauber v. City of New York, Southern District of New York (2003)
For PACER's information on parties and their attorneys, see: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/4350542/parties/berg-v-kelly/
, (New York)
Aboushi, Tahanie Ahmad (New York)
Adams, Elizabeth Knight (New York)
Adams, Christopher E. (New York)
Adlerstein, Lee Alan (New York)
Gorenstein, Gabriel W. (New York)
Griesa, Thomas Poole (New York)
Hall, Peter W. (Vermont)
Kaplan, Lewis A. (New York)
Aboushi, Tahanie Ahmad (New York)
Adams, Elizabeth Knight (New York)
Adams, Christopher E. (New York)
Adlerstein, Lee Alan (New York)
Aldarondo-Lopez, Eliezer Alberto (New York)
Aldarondo-Ortiz, Eliezer (New York)
Aliff-Ortiz, Claudio (New York)
Anakhu, Joy Tolulope (New York)
Anderson, Jeffrey R (New York)
Angolkar, Stephanie A (New York)
Anulewicz, Christopher Scott (New York)
Arbogast, Katrina Atchley (New York)
Atkins, Edward Jason (New York)
Augello, Cynthia Ann (New York)
Aylor, David Fletcher (New York)
Bacha, Christopher D (New York)
Bahrenburg, Richard (New York)
Balser, David Lewis (New York)
Bandlow, Jennifer A (New York)
Banias, Bradley Bruce (New York)
Barrett, Matthew S. (New York)
Bartlett, Taylor C. (New York)
Battistoni, Thomas Patrick (New York)
Bauer, Mary Catherine (New York)
Baum, Deborah Brand (New York)
Beamon, Jonathan H. (New York)
Begun, Laura Nicole (New York)
Belsan, Timothy Michael (New York)
Bennett, Carlton F. (New York)
Berkowitz, Jeffrey S. (New York)
Bernstein, Richard F. (New York)
Berra, Joseph Pacifico (New York)
Bicknell, John Eric (New York)
Bilfield, Murray D. (New York)
Biolchini, Jeffrey Michael (New York)
Blain, Jennifer Ellen (New York)
Blanton, Shasta P.C. (New York)
Block, Jeffrey Craig (New York)
Blyskal, Joseph James (New York)
Bober, David Vincent (New York)
Boffen, Christina N (New York)
Bonthuis, Mari Kristine (New York)
Brabender, Melissa Lynne (New York)
Brand, Michael Aaron (New York)
Brantley, Overtis Hicks (New York)
Breidenbach, Andrew (New York)
Brian, Jeannette M. (New York)
Broadley, Steven S. (New York)
Brooke, Samuel Jacob (New York)
Brooks, Michael Lee (New York)
Brown, Kevin Michael (New York)
Brueggemann, Richard A. (New York)
Calandriello, Carlos J. (New York)
Campbell, Michael R (New York)
Cannavino, John Wade (New York)
Cardozo, Nathan Daniel (New York)
Carreras-Rovira, Jose E. (New York)
Carter, Jason James (New York)
Carter, Brian Scott (New York)
Castelli, Thomas H. (New York)
Castro-Ortiz, Ivan M. (New York)
Chang, Christopher E. (New York)
Charme, Stephen Mark (New York)
Christie, William E. (New York)
Collier, Mark Louis (New York)
Conlin, Cynthia Ariel (New York)
Connelly, Michael P. (New York)
Connelly, Matthew Patrick (New York)
Connolly, Sandra K. (New York)
Corbett, Keith Michael (New York)
Corn-Revere, Robert (New York)
Costello, Ruth O'Meara (New York)
Crabtree, Robert K. (New York)
Criden, Michael Elliot (New York)
Cyrluk, Jonathan M. (New York)
D'Angelo, Stephen L. (New York)
Davidson, Charles D. (New York)
DeAntonio, Stephen F (New York)
deLeeuw, Peter Bradford (New York)
Delmond, Robert Scott (New York)
Del-Valle-Cruz, Carlos (New York)
DeMarco, Mark Steven (New York)
Desormeau, Katherine (New York)
Diaz, Joseph Michael (New York)
Dilone-Fernandez, Shiara L. (New York)
Dinan, Christine Tschiderer (New York)
Downey, Glen Stephen (New York)
Drake, Eleanor Michelle (New York)
Driscoll, Donald Peter (New York)
Dukes, Lorene Stuhr (New York)
Durrell, Suzanne E. (New York)
Ecker, Steven David (New York)
Edgerton, Jacqueline LaPan (New York)
Edmondson, J. Curtis (New York)
Edwards, John Kiley (New York)
Ellington, C. Ronald (New York)
Elliot, Jonathan D. (New York)
Ellis, Krista Marie (New York)
Erwin, Daniel Murphy (New York)
Esser, Frederick Scott (New York)
Fakhoury, Hanni Meena (New York)
Febres-Jorge, Alejandro (New York)
Felsen, Jamie Scott (New York)
Feltner, Jonathan P. (New York)
Fieweger, James Peter (New York)
Findley, Elizabeth A. (New York)
Finnegan, Michael G (New York)
Fioretti, Robert William (New York)
Flanagan, Gerald Sinclair (New York)
Flanagan, William J. (New York)
Fleischer, Robert M. (New York)
Fontana, Vincent R. (New York)
Forrest, Courtney Roberts (New York)
Fraioli, Joseph Anthony (New York)
Fundingsland, C Lynne (New York)
Furukawa, Michiyo Michelle (New York)
Garcia, Ricardo Antonio (New York)
Garcia, Michael Alexandar (New York)
Gargano, Desiree Mia (New York)
Garrison, William Lewis (New York)
Gawlowicz, Joseph A. (New York)
Gearon, Thomas Drew (New York)
Gelernt, Michelle A. (New York)
Gennardo, Patrick Joseph (New York)
Gershner, David Louis (New York)
Giampietro, Wayne B. (New York)
Gibbens, William P. (New York)
Gibbons, Elizabeth J (New York)
Gibbs, Brett Langdon (New York)
Giovinazzo, Christopher Todd (New York)
Gitcheva, Louise T. (New York)
Giudice, Lauren Nicole (New York)
Goddess, Jeffrey S. (New York)
Goldman, Peter Linn (New York)
Gonzalez, Arturo Jorge (New York)
Gorczynski, Linda M. (New York)
Goyette, Paul Quentin (New York)
Green, Matthew Stafford (New York)
Grossman, Stuart Isaac (New York)
Guerrero, Alberto Luis (New York)
Haber, Erica Michelle (New York)
Hamill, Patricia M. (New York)
Hammond, Julian Ari (New York)
Hand, Aaron Richard (New York)
Hansen, Daniel John (New York)
Harrington, James C (New York)
Harrington, Ryan James (New York)
Harrison, John Richard (New York)
Harrison, Baya Whitman (New York)
Hashmall, Joseph C. (New York)
Hatfield, Victoria E. (New York)
Hausler, Sanford Jay (New York)
Hawkins, Brandie L. (New York)
Hawkins, Jonathan E. (New York)
Hermansen, Kurt David (New York)
Hernandez, Carmen D. (New York)
Hinton, Christopher S. (New York)
Hirsch, Scott David (New York)
Hochberg, Stanley J. (New York)
Hodge, Gwendolyn Dewees (New York)
Hofmann, Marcia Clare (New York)
Hood, Christopher B. (New York)
Hourihan, Jeremy J. (New York)
Howard, Theodore Augustus (New York)
Hubbard, Jonathan Stuart (New York)
Hudolin, Keith David (New York)
INACTIVE, Steve Ramey (New York)
Interpreter, Houston (New York)
Iturralde, Christina (New York)
Ivey, John Kemmerer (New York)
Jadwat, Omar Cassim (New York)
James, Jacqueline Marie (New York)
Jennings, Christopher D. (New York)
Johnson, Dana Martin (New York)
Jordan, Elizabeth Joynes (New York)
Kachergus, Matthew R. (New York)
Kain, Robert Charles (New York)
Kao, Winifred Virginia (New York)
Kastrenakes, Eleni Sevasti (New York)
Kaufman, Benjamin Yehuda (New York)
Kehl, Jeffrey Edward (New York)
Kelleher, Nannette R. (New York)
Kennedy, John Francis (New York)
Kiesling, Jeffrey D. (New York)
Kilgore, Jerry Walker (New York)
Kim, Sabrina Seungyoun (New York)
Kinigstein, Noah Aaron (New York)
Konecky, Joshua Geoffrey (New York)
Kosma, Michael Joseph (New York)
Koutsoudakis, Andreas (New York)
Kubitschek, Carolyn A. (New York)
Kwon, Angela Saeyun (New York)
Lagarde, Andre Jude (New York)
Lansell, Allison Marie (New York)
Lansford, Jamie Kathryn (New York)
Lapointe, Jon-Paul Manuel (New York)
Lapointe, Michelle Rose (New York)
Levin-Epstein, Ethan A. (New York)
Leviton, Jason Mathew (New York)
Librera, Kelly Anne (New York)
Lieberman, Hannah E.M. (New York)
Linam, Stephanie A. (New York)
Lindholm, Matthew T (New York)
Lockwood, J Gregory (New York)
LoPalo, Christopher R. (New York)
Louison, Bradford N. (New York)
Louison, Douglas I. (New York)
Lovett, Willie Jake (New York)
Lucas, Andrew Joseph (New York)
Lugar, Justin Michael (New York)
Madkour, Stephen Lewis (New York)
Mallison, Stanley S. (New York)
Maloney, Thomas Joseph (New York)
Mansfield, Alan McQuarrie (New York)
Mansfield, Douglas M (New York)
Mantica, Jacqueline K. (New York)
Margulies, Arthur J. (New York)
Marrs, Richard David (New York)
Marshall, Lindsey Vignaud (New York)
Martinez, Hector Rodriguez (New York)
Mason, Geoffrey Colbourne (New York)
Mbaye, Lesley Berson (New York)
McDonough, James F. (New York)
McFarland, Charles Edward (New York)
McInnis, Timothy J. (New York)
McKenna, Anne Toomey (New York)
McKinney, Rebekah Keith (New York)
McNamara, Michael Shannon (New York)
McPherson, Edwin F. (New York)
Mead, Christopher J (New York)
Medlock, Scott Charles (New York)
Meiselas, Benjamin Jared (New York)
Mercer, Justin Harry (New York)
Miltenberg, Andrew T. (New York)
Mirabella, Michael J. (New York)
Mitola, John Richard (New York)
Monforton, Matthew G. (New York)
Moran, Patrick Hugh (New York)
Mordock, Craig James (New York)
Morris, Shannah Jean (New York)
Mowles, Linda Hamilton (New York)
Muha, Christopher Charles (New York)
Mulholland, Lee-Anne (New York)
Muljat, Zack Vincent (New York)
Murphy-Aguilu, James Stephen (New York)
Naef, Andrea Kloehn (New York)
Neely, Patrick Hall (New York)
Nemeth, Stephanie L (New York)
Nespole, Gregory Mark (New York)
Neufeld, Sheryl Rebecca (New York)
Nichols, Wallace R. (New York)
Nordstrom, Tamika R. (New York)
Normand, Sarah Sheive (New York)
Nowinski, Thomas Edward (New York)
O'Brien, Frederick M. (New York)
Ochoa, Lino Humberto (New York)
O'Connor, Dennis R. (New York)
Odum, Michelle Banks (New York)
O'Hara, Christopher R. (New York)
Okoronkwo, Chinyere Y (New York)
Okum, Bess Messerman (New York)
Oldenburg, Tyler James (New York)
Ontell, Robert Joshua (New York)
Opheim, Jennifer Marie (New York)
Pace, Christopher A. (New York)
Packard, Tamara Beth (New York)
Paddison, Gregory B. (New York)
Palmer, Ashley Jenell (New York)
Pancoast, Zachary R. (New York)
Parasidis, Efthimios (New York)
Parker, Johnny Clyde (New York)
Pasternak, Jeremy David (New York)
Patrick, Bradford A. (New York)
Paule, Kevin Christopher (New York)
Pauli, Elizabeth Ann (New York)
Paxton, William David (New York)
Paylor, Alice Fountain (New York)
Peterson, Matthew D (New York)
Philemond, Jessica K (New York)
Phillips, Jonathan LA (New York)
PHV, Patricia Hamill (New York)
Pizza, Normand Francis (New York)
Pohl, David Matthew (New York)
Pollack, Jeffrey D. (New York)
Porter, James Wallace (New York)
Preston, Andrew Kenneth (New York)
Quadra, James Andrew (New York)
Raisner, Christian L. (New York)
Ranallo, Nicholas R (New York)
Randazza, Marc John (New York)
Ratcliffe, J. Richard (New York)
Rehkemper, Robert G (New York)
Reilly, Rebecca Marie (New York)
Rengel, Alexandra I. (New York)
Reynolds, Caroline Elizabeth (New York)
Rieder, Geoffrey D. (New York)
Riggs, Jeffrey Allan (New York)
Risher, Michael Temple (New York)
Roberts, Jennifer E. (New York)
Roberts, L. Kathleen (New York)
Roberts, Jeffery S. (New York)
Rockenstein, Kirenjeet (New York)
Rodriguez, Fidel Rodriguez (New York)
Rodriguez-Alonso, Anabel (New York)
Romero, Peter Arcadio (New York)
Rosenfeld, Jeffrey Michael (New York)
Rosenwasser, Steven (New York)
Rosman, Michael Evan (New York)
Ross, Gerald Elliott (New York)
Rothert, Anthony E. (New York)
Rowell, William Blake (New York)
Rowling, Hugh William (New York)
Sadowski, Robert Wayne (New York)
Samuels, Paul Nathan (New York)
Sarnoski, Stephen Richard (New York)
Sato, Shorge Kenneth (New York)
Schilling, Ellie T. (New York)
Schmutz, Joseph Stephen (New York)
Schneidau, Thomas S. (New York)
Schneider, Michael R. (New York)
Schnell, Randi Engel (New York)
Schuetze, Cheryl Ann (New York)
Schulze, Chad William (New York)
Schwartz, Mark Kelley (New York)
Schwartz, Alexander H. (New York)
Schwartz, Ronald Lee (New York)
Schwartz, Jill Steinberg (New York)
Scott, Michelle Ann (New York)
Scott, Cedric Donnell (New York)
Scully, Keith Patrick (New York)
Seelig, Anne Melissa (New York)
Sen, Diana Sagorika (New York)
Sevastianos, Noel A. (New York)
Shamberg, Kyle Alan (New York)
Sheppard, William J. (New York)
Shoikhetbrod, Allen A. (New York)
Silverman, Michael Loren (New York)
Simon, Daniel Jordan (New York)
Singer, Scott Andrew (New York)
Slusarz, Frances Codd (New York)
Smith, Thomas Milby (New York)
Smith, Stephen Albert (New York)
Spangler, Cardelle B. (New York)
Spanner, Robert Alan (New York)
Speed, Sandra Ribera (New York)
Spielman, Darren Joel (New York)
Spillman, Lindsay Ellis (New York)
Sprayregen, James H. (New York)
Sprovieri, Kathryn Maria (New York)
Stampur, William J. (New York)
Steinberg, James Michael (New York)
Sternlieb, Sarah Michelle (New York)
Stevens, Richard H. (New York)
Stewart, Colin Gregory (New York)
Sugarman, Kenneth John (New York)
Sweeney, John Parker (New York)
Tallberg, James Newhall (New York)
Tamaroff, David Fisher (New York)
Tankersley, Jeanmarie (New York)
Taylor, Tabitha Anne (New York)
Teichner, Lee Philip (New York)
Teitelman, Robert B. (New York)
TenBruggencate, Magdalene Alison (New York)
Thomas, Scott Rowland (New York)
Thompson, Rodney Darrin (New York)
Tobias, Bradley Clark (New York)
Tranetzki, Kristen L. (New York)
Truitt, Curtright C. (New York)
Tsai, Victor Wen-Li (New York)
Tsai, Kelly Hsiao-I (New York)
Turner, Juno Emmeline (New York)
Vazquez-Marrero, Maraliz (New York)
Waller, Antoinette S (New York)
Walsh-Little, David J (New York)
Wenzel, Steven Greg (New York)
White, Elizabeth Louise (New York)
Wiggins, Cary Stephen (New York)
Williams, Charles O (New York)
Willstatter, Richard D. (New York)
Wilson, Harry Cooper (New York)
Wohlsifer, William R. (New York)
Woodard, William L. (New York)
Wortman, Scott Evan (New York)
Wright, Robert Thomas (New York)
Yahwak, Joshua Aaron (New York)
YAK, Federal Public (New York)
Yarnell, Bryan James (New York)
Yaroslavskiy, Yuriy (New York)
Zborovsky, Diana R. (New York)
Zecchin, Anthony E. (New York)
Zink, Trevor Joseph (New York)
Zorrilla-Maldonado, Frank (New York)
Zurbriggen, Adam Ross (New York)
See docket on RECAP: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/4350542/berg-v-kelly/
Last updated Feb. 23, 2024, 4:25 a.m.
State / Territory: New York
Case Type(s):
Special Collection(s):
Key Dates
Filing Date: April 30, 2012
Closing Date: April 22, 2019
Case Ongoing: No
Plaintiffs
Plaintiff Description:
Plaintiffs are five members of the Occupy Wall Street movement who were allegedly detained by the New York Police Department during a demonstration on Nov. 30, 2011.
Plaintiff Type(s):
Public Interest Lawyer: No
Filed Pro Se: No
Class Action Sought: Yes
Class Action Outcome: Pending
Defendants
City of New York (New York, New York), City
Defendant Type(s):
Case Details
Causes of Action:
Constitutional Clause(s):
Unreasonable search and seizure
Available Documents:
Outcome
Prevailing Party: Defendant
Nature of Relief:
Source of Relief:
Issues
General:
Policing:
Jails, Prisons, Detention Centers, and Other Institutions: