CHICAGO (AP) — The city of Chicago has hammered out a $6.2 million settlement over a class-action lawsuit that accuses police of unlawfully arresting more than 700 people during a 2003 Iraq war demonstration, attorneys announced Thursday.
The case has attracted added attention for what it might say about how Chicago copes with thousands of demonstrators expected to descend on the city for G-8 and NATO summits in May.
Lawyers for both sides told U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall in Chicago on Thursday that they had successfully reached a settlement — one that would short-circuit the need for a trial that was supposed to start later this month.
Attorneys representing those arrested nine years ago welcomed the deal.
"It certainly has been a shameful episode for the city of Chicago," said plaintiffs' attorney Joey Mogul.
More than 10,000 demonstrators attended the 2003, March 20, protest in downtown Chicago. After marchers became blocked on a street, police moved in and arrested people en masse — at least some of whom were just passersby.
Asked if the settlement shows Chicago has learned its lesson and will handle summit protests better, Mogul said she was hopeful.
"We believe this is an important recognition of people's rights" to freedom of speech and assembly, she said.
Chicago has already greatly improved its crowd-control methods by incorporating what was learned from the 2003 protest and from legal rulings related to the lawsuit, said a spokesman for the city of Chicago's law department, Roderick Drew.
"The lessons learned and the guidance we received form the court has all allowed the city to better prepare for future demonstrations," he said.
According to attorneys for the plaintiffs, the settlement would offer payments to those arrested in 2003 up to $15,000. Those detained on the street by police for more than an hour and a half before their release could receive up to up to $500.
The lawsuit has had its ups and downs.
A district court dismissed it, but a federal appellate court reinstated it last year. In its opinion, the higher court said police can't arrest peaceful protesters without warning simply because they don't have a permit to demonstrate.
Judge Kendall still must give her final approval to the settlement. Chicago's city council also has to OK it.
Drew insisted the city did not rush to settle the lawsuit because it felt pressure to resolve it before the summits. He said, if anything, it was the looming trial date that provided impetus to get a settlement done.
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