George W. Bush's visits to Portland in August, 2002 and again in March 2003 incited thousands of passionate Portland residents to the streets to protest U.S. involvement in the Middle East. Despite the peaceful nature of the rally, police declared a state of emergency and proceeded to use pepper spray and rubber bullets to disperse the non-threatening crowd of demonstrators. Video footage from legal observers showed officers using potentially lethal pepper spray directly into the faces of peaceful protestors.
Several children, including a ten month-old baby, were among those caught in the burning mist. Faced with the outrageous conduct by members of the Portland Police Bureau, a team of National Lawyers Guild attorneys represented several brave people injured by the police. For the first time, the Portland police department would be challenged and held accountable for its actions.
During litigation the police department consistently resisted attempts to gain information about the police activity. Instead, it attempted to portray the demonstrations as protestor riots in order to justify its extreme actions. Through discovery, attorneys unearthed a large amount of documentary information that detailed the history of constitutional protest in Portland and illustrated a pattern of violent reaction to dissent by the Police Bureau. An expert hired by the plaintiff's attorneys, Dr. Woodhall Stopford, a top medical weapons advisor from the U.S. army, affirmed that the use of pepper spray for crowd control poses a serious danger to public health. Because pepper spray can cause fatalities, he demonstrated that it is irresponsible and criminally reckless for the police to continue to use chemical weapons against the people of Portland.
At the conclusion of the two-year suit, the court confirmed that the behavior of the Portland police showed a criminal disregard for basic human rights. The City of Portland paid a total of $845,000 to settle these law suits. Because the plaintiffs and legal team all shared the long-term aim of safeguarding the rights of political activists and ensuring effective community oversight of law enforcement, they made substantial contributions from the settlement to provide the seed money for the Northwest Constitutional Rights Center.
The difficulty of litigating the Portland protest cases has made it very clear that individuals with limited income are hindered in their efforts to access the courts to pursue enforcement of their rights. Litigation against public bodies is expensive, protracted and beyond the means of most, no matter how just the cause. Yet, litigation can serve as a crucial shield against the unconstitutional actions of government and can educate the public about their rights. As Alan Graf, one of the lead attorneys on the team explains: "Why is the First Amendment so vital to our society and its ability to keep on? Because without the protections it holds for the voices of the minority, our fragile democracy will die an untimely death." These suits also demonstrated the effectiveness of a strategic public advocacy campaign to build support for substantive changes.
The generosity and dedication of these individuals solidified the Northwest Constitutional Rights Center as a community resource with a vision to create a just and equitable city, where law enforcement treats all people with dignity and respect. Individual community support of time, money and resources will determine whether or not the NW Center continues to grow and fight.