Three cops, including the cheif, fired. The settlement included ACLU oversight/participation in the ongoing process of changing policy regarding demonstrations. And no, nothing in the settlement addressed the issue of increases in student fee increases, decreases in contribution from the state of CA to UC, the number of administrators in the UC system, their getting raises, the cuts in staff level employees and their wage freezes. The cause of the protests were not addressed in the suit or the settlement. The suit addressed the police response to protests. The pepper spraying incident did galvanize activists on campus and changed the way the police respond to protests. (As seen by their behavior, final written changes in policy are in the works. These policies are going to be applied to the whole UC system and not just Davis. There were other outrageous UC police on different campuses last year. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4A0hdq87cOc"]Students shot at UC Riverside Regents meeting protest (1/19/12) - YouTube ) There were tents on the UCD quad until January (when the students/occupiers moved from their tents back to their apartments). Two buildings were Occupied. All without police intervention. (And with cooperation from Fire and Health and Safety re: first aid and food storage at the camp) From Jan to Mar(?) activists blocked access to the US Bank branch on campus, which lead to its being closed. (and charges against those blockaders. http://daviswiki.org/The_Davis_Dozen)
Yes, there were. This video of the incident at UC Berkeley made me cry when I first saw it last November. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_f06VQOkI4"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_f06VQOkI4
A federal judge still has to over see the settlement, I am sure they will appeal and the settlement will get reduced or possibly overturned. I don't think it cheapens the movement. All those fuckers in power care about is $. Hit them where it hurts.
I stand corrected Mike, I thought I had read that there was 'disciplinary action' but not firings. It seemed to me that not only policy needed to be looked at, but that the people implementing it rightly or wrongly obviously needed to go. Hopefully to never earn a living in the 'authority' business again. Unfortunately, it doesn't hit them. It hits the system, spread out over all the sources of funding, and their cut of the pie stays the same. That's why I think it's at least a little something for the victims but hurts everyone else a little, except for the top levels.
That was NOT a Federal Judge. That was the UC Board of Regents. A Federal Judge has to approve the settlement and handle any appeals: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443916104578020791258810364.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
The Regents approved the settlement September 13. (source Davis Enterprise (which has a god dammed lousy archive feature that eats old articles ) The federal judge approved the settlement the day before the recent news conference on the Quad. (source, that's what one of the pepper spray plaintiffs told me 15 min. before their press conference.)
Seems pretty cheap, but it also doesn't seem that a lot more is likely, even if it should be. At least it acts as a deterrent. Cops will be reigned in because of this, even if it's not THAT much, it's a lot more than any officer wants to be responsible for losing in a lawsuit.... the guy, and his chief, lost their jobs.... that should make cops think. And there's going to be some ACLU oversight, which should make cops think, even if it's not because the overseer tells them to but just because they resent the overseer.
So, now the pepper spray cop is seeking workers comp for his psychiatric suffering. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJgAtb5QaDk&feature=share"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJgAtb5QaDk&feature=share