City Of Portland Police Agree (To Avoid Contempt) That At Least Three Officers Will Not Ever Return To Street Duties: Press Infringement Cases

The federal "press oppression" case in Portland is not over, as it is up on appeal in the Ninth Circuit (an appeal Mr. Biden will without a doubt drop, once he takes office in January), and there are still damages that remain to be calculated at the trial level, but this is a nice bit of accepting responsibility, at the local level -- by city leaders.

The City of Portland has stipulated -- or agreed, in plainer English -- that at least three specific, named officers (names here redacted from the public record for safety, but known to the parties and judge) currently being disciplined via the internal affairs process in that city, will not ever see street duty again -- if they are not ultimately fired outright. [My backgrounder -- one of a dozen over the Summer, from July 2020 -- is here.]

Should any of them be assigned to street duty, the ACLU may renew its motion for contempt of court. So these goons are. . . done. Cashiered. Here's a bit from the redacted stipulation:

. . .Plaintiffs allege the following facts, which they contend violated the Preliminary Injunction:

• That [name redacted] arrested ACLU Legal Observer Kat Mahoney on August 9, 2020, and dislocated her shoulder by picking her up by her handcuffs;

• That [name redacted] threatened ACLU Legal Observer Bruce Knivila on August 8, 2020;

• That [name redacted] assaulted journalist Maranie Staab by pushing her in the back when she was complying with his order to leave her location on August 10, 2020;

• That [name redacted] again assaulted journalist Maranie Staab in retaliation for her filming him pepper-spraying a protestor on September 29, 2020;

• That [name redacted] prevented ACLU Legal Observers Stasia Brownelland Rachelle Collins from filming arrest of Ms. Mahoney and grabbed Ms. Brownell by the throat and threw her to the ground on August 9, 2020;

• That [name redacted] assaulted journalist Maranie Staab in retaliation for her filming him assaulting a protester on August 16, 2020. . . .

THEREFORE, the Parties agree as follows:

1. The City will continue its investigation of the allegations against [names redacted] and [name redacted];

2. Pending the resolution of its investigations, the City will remove [names redacted] and [name redacted] from public-order policing duty involving contact with the public;

3. If the City seeks to reinstate [names redacted] to public-order policing duty involving contact with the public before the completion of their respective disciplinary processes, the City will give Plaintiffs at least 3 days’ notice before doing so, so that Plaintiffs can move the Court for contempt. . . .

Every little bit of progress, toward permanently ending the Trump-Barr star chamber goon squads should be cheered. So we will ride out into the sunshine on a mountain bike, by the very brisk lakeside air. . . grinning. Ever grinning. Onward.

नमस्ते