A battle won...

Oh, so many horrible things happening in the world, but here's a good one. My friend recently informed me that class action lawsuit, in which she was a plaintiff, for those arrested during the WTO protests in Seattle in '99 has finally come to a happy conclusion. PublicJustice.net has the full story. Those arrested claimed wrongful arrest and the court ruled in their favor, saying that the arrests violated the protesters' Fourth Amendment rights. According to my friend, the city has settled for $1 million and will also restructure its police training program to appropriately deal, meaning no blanket arrests, with protest situations. This news gives me hope that the constitution is not yet dead and that we do still have some rights. I also hope this news will encourage other cities to look at their police tactics during similar situations and question whether they too are in violation of our fourth amendment. I applaud those who continue to speak their minds , and protest against what they see as wrongful doings, making use of those rights we are told our forefathers fought and died for. This takes extra courage when those rights are under constant assault. It's uplifting to know that they haven't been completely lost yet. Thank you to the Seattle District Court for upholding the Constitution, when it seems the trend in US justice is to do otherwise.