$13 Million Settlement for 680 IMF and World Bank Protesters in 2000

On November 23, 2009, NPAP member attorneys Mara Verheyden-Hilliard and Carl Messineo of the Partnership for Civil Justice announced that they have settled Bec k er et al. v. District of Columbia, a first amendment class-action lawsuit on behalf of 680 protesters who were illegally arrested following an April 2000 lawful protest of the IMF and World Bank, for $13,300,000 and new rules requiring advanced training for police officers assigned to protests.  The proteste rs accused the Washington, D.C. Police Department of trapping and arresting demonstrators in a calculated attempt to disrupt the protest.  Several protesters claimed that D.C. police beat them, put them in stress positions, and held them for hours without access to food, water or restrooms.  These protesters received additional payments in the settlement, bringing the total to $13,700,000 including attorneys’ fees. 

The settlement requires the District of Columbia to pay each of the 680 arrestees $18,000.  In addition, the settlement imposes a higher burden on the Washington, D.C. police to properly train officers assigned to protests in the city. 

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