Acks v. City and County of Denver

This lawsuit focuses on events of the evening of August 25, 2008, during the Democratic National Convention. During the early evening hours of the first day of the DNC, a solid line of riot-equipped police shut down a protest march as it proceeded on 15th Street and the adjoining sidewalks in downtown Denver. A second line of police quickly closed in from behind, confining hundreds of persons in a one-block stretch of 15th Street between Court and Cleveland.

The encircled group included participants who had been marching legally on the public sidewalks as well as persons who had been marching in the street without the required permit. It also included legal observers, curious onlookers, members of the press, and other nonparticipants.

The lawsuit asserts that Denver carried out an arbitrary and groundless mass arrest, without probable cause, of 96 individuals, knowing that the group included numerous innocent persons, including the eight individual Plaintiffs in this case.

Arrestees were locked into holding cells at a Denver warehouse converted into a detention facility for DNC-related arrests. At that detention facility, Denver refused to allow attorneys to meet with or speak with any of the arrestees.

All Plaintiffs were charged with failing to obey a lawful order to disperse. After Denver finally acknowledged that no such dispersal order had ever been issued, Denver nevertheless persisted in prosecuting the plaintiffs for “obstructing” a public right of way by allegedly marching in the street without a permit. All cases eventually resulted in acquittals after jury trials or dismissal of charges.

The lawsuit seeks damages for the eight Plaintiffs who were falsely arrested in violation of their rights under the First and Fourth Amendments. Pursuant to a Colorado statute that requires jailers to allow arrestees to meet with attorneys, C.R.S. § 16-3-404, the ACLU lawyers also litigated a class action claim on behalf of all individuals who were ensnared in the mass arrest on 15th Street and detained at Denver’s detention facility. 

The lawsuit resolved with a $200,000 payment and improvements to the Denver Police Deparment's crowd control policies.  

Videos:

Watch video of Plaintiff Chase Goll as his arresting officer swears under oath that Goll disobeyed “3 separate orders” to disperse given by Sgt. Foster.

Watch a video of Plaintiff Eli Hardy as DPD Officer Sutton swears under oath that Hardy disobeyed a dispersal order given 3 times over a loudspeaker by Sgt. Foster.

ACLU news releases:

• "ACLU sues Denver for indiscriminate mass arrest during DNC and illegally denying arrestees access to attorneys," ACLU News Release, August 19, 2009
• "Denver to pay $200,000 for indiscriminate mass arrest at DNC," ACLU News Release, August 16, 2011

Media:

• "Eight arrested during DNC sue city for wrongful arrest," The Denver Post, August 20, 2009
• "ACLU sues Denver for alleged false arrests during Democratic National Convention," Westword, August 20, 2009
• "Denver agrees to pay $200,000 to settle DNC mass-arrest suit," The Denver Post, August 16, 2011
• "ACLU: Denver Agrees To Settle DNC Arrest Lawsuit," CBS News, August 16, 2011
• "Denver Settles Democratic National Convention 'Indiscriminate Arrests' Lawsuit For $200,000," HuffPost, August 16, 2011

ACLU case number

2008-22