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I'm starting this thread to discuss some of the legal issues surrounding the Occupy Wall Street protests. It has been nearly 2 years since the protests began and we are just now hearing about settlements and cases surrounding the event involving police and city officials.
In a few high profile cases, the city of New York will not provide legal aid for the accused officers.
The first case, involved an officer who was notorious for pepper spraying a group of women already detained behind police nets.
"Of the thousands of civil rights cases filed against the NYPD over the last five years (1,376 are pending now), the city has only declined to pay the legal fees for about 5 percent of those, WSJ's Gardiner notes. A city lawyer told Gardiner the city is only required to defend those carrying out their official duties and not breaking any rules. Bologna has said all along that he didn't intend to spray the women standing behind an orange police net, and his lawyer repeated that claim to Gardiner, adding that his action had been taken out of context. But the city's refusal to back him legally, combined with the administrative discipline the NYPD has already handed down, suggest officials think he acted inappropriately. Let's take a look at the videos of Bologna's pepper-spraying, for old time's sake:"
In another case, the city is refusing to provide legal aid for an officer accused of sucker punching a protester. The officer became infamous after being recorded turning a protester around and punching him in the face. The incident occured before the camps were even ordered to be disassembled.
There are sure to be many more civil suits related to the protests. A precedent is being set for future protests in this country. It's been early 40 years since the country has had to address the issue of large scale protests.
During Occupy Wall Street protests New York police officers obstructed news reporters and legal observers, conducted frequent surveillance, wrongly limited public gatherings and enforced arbitrary rules, a group of lawyers said in a lengthy report issued on Wednesday.
The group, called the Protest and Assembly Rights Project, which included people involved with the law clinics at New York University School of Law and Fordham Law School, said that they had cataloged hundreds of instances of what they described as excessive force and other forms of police misconduct said to have taken place since September, when the Occupy Wall Street movement began.
Although the report referred to some well-known events, including Deputy Inspector Anthony Bologna’s use of pepper spray, it also detailed specific instances of alleged misconduct that had not appeared in news reports.
"It’s been nearly a year since thousands of peaceful protestors – and a handful of black-clad vandalizing ones – took to the streets of Seattle for May Day 2012. Since then, a police force has been repeatedly chastised for its response to the protests, a police chief has stepped down and four local activists spent months locked up without charges ever being filed – in and out of solitary confinement – for refusing to cooperate with a federal grand jury that many have described as a “political witch hunt.”
But while Seattle police have said confidently that they are ready for whatever protestors throw at them this year, the Occupy Movement, a driving force behind last years demonstrations, stands less assured, battered by what members see as 12 months of unfair media attention and over-zealous law enforcement."
Looks like there is a divide amongst the DA and the City of New York. The DA will not prosecute 2 of the more infamous incidents caught on camera during the protests. However, both officers face civil suits and the city of NY has declined to represent them.
n February of last year, five of the largest mortgage servicers, which includes Wells Fargo, paid $25 billion in a settlement over fraudulent foreclosure practices. The lawsuit was initiated by 49 state attorneys general. The settlement was the largest of its kind in U.S. history.
However, Wells Fargo’s foreclosure practices continue to generate criticism. Last month, ABC News reported that Delores Dingman, an 80 year-old resident of Tualatin, Ore., fought Wells Fargo for three years to save her home from repossession. The bank failed to prove Dingman ever missed a payment.
Great links in this thread. You've been a great source of information Gtown, thanks!
I'm actually in the process of refinancing my Wells Fargo mortgage over to my Credit Union. I will then be completely off self-deemed "too big to fail banks" and their unethical and greedy practices. I'm also paying tons less in closing fees and getting a much better interest rate. All of these corrupt institutions will eventually die hard.
Recently at work, I was on the phone with an elderly woman who was also fighting to keep her house from being foreclosed on. She had payed off her mortgage completely about a year before and Wells Fargo had been saying she was continually missing her Monthly payment since. Luckily, she found community lawyers to represent her but a 70 something year old woman on a low fixed income living in a house worth less than $100,000 should not need to go to court and have a drawn out battle with a bank to prove that she correctly payed off her mortgage. She was fearful of being thrown out on the street when she never made a late payment in the whole 30 year term.
I've been fighting for the cause for quite a while now. I'm self-employed and stable with a good future ahead, but understand that its more than just about myself and my well-being. I believe the issues raised by Occupy ARE our most important issues. We have to have a healthy economy.
After a conversation with one of the major banks last week, I'm switching my business account over to a credit union as well. I've heard a lot of good things about them and am pretty disgusted by the tactics some of the banks use.
I'm glad to hear you avoided any bad blood with the banks. I receive e-mails quite often from Occupy the Homes, an Occupy faction, and there's literally hundreds of stories like the one you mentioned. There was a good thread on the topic going for a while, 33% of foreclosures during the crisis were due to bank error. 33%!!
The topic of public entities backing away from officers who broke the law and and now corporations who broke the law is a huge step for Occupy IMO. It shows that some officials aren't willing to risks their jobs or morals to defend corruption. It also will set a precedent for future protests in what the police can and can NOT do.
In cities such as Los Angeles and Anaheim police officers have reportedly shot and killed unarmed suspects, claiming that they had posed unspecific threats.
One of the participants in the rally, Jean Thaxton, says, however, that her son was not posing a threat to anyone when he was shot in the back by police officers as he attempted to flee from them.
Protesters further stated that police departments in the large state do not provide their recruiting forces with proper training and equipment, noting that while some police officers do try to do a good job, they are not adequately supported by their respective departments.
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