how many people are a part of the class action?

if youre not in it, but were arrested/detained and beaten that day in the protest, is it too late to join it?

You can contact the Chicago chapter of the National Lawyers Guild for answers to your question.

www.nlgchiago.org

All 800 people who were detained or arrested at Chicago and Michigan are part of the class action. It's not too late to join.

Is there an e-mail address that people can contact to join, I want in.

Realize that by joining you agree to seven or eight hours of deposition by the city's lawyers, in which you have to answer all of the questions asked. There is no pleading the fifth when you're the plantiff and the defense is going discovery.
Question #1 - Give me the name, address, phone number, and place of employment for everyone you've ever met that has attended a meeting or protest....

I'm not saying don't join, by all means do, but realize what you're getting into.

With 850 plaintiffs, there's no way the city's attorneys can or will take everyone's deposition. The point of a class action lawsuit is that it is representative of all the plaintiffs, so not every class member needs to be deposed. In fact, the vast majority will not be. If you have any questions about what it means to be a part of the suit, contact the March 20th legal team.

The lawsuit resulting from the mass detentions and arrests at the anti-war protest on March 20, 2003 has recently been granted class status by Judge Virginia Kendall. The significance of this ruling is that a single lawsuit will proceed on behalf of everyone who was detained or arrested that evening on Chicago Avenue, between Michigan Avenue and Mies Van Der Rohe Way. Judge Kendall’s decision supports the plaintiffs’ assessment that the class includes over 800 people and can be divided into three sub-classes. The three sub-classes include those who were detained on the street for 1 ½ to 3 hours, those who were taken into custody and released without charges, and those who were taken into custody and subsequently charged.

An official notice will be sent out to as many class members as possible in the near future. The National Lawyers Guild attorneys working on the case, Jim Fennerty, Janine Hoft, Joey Mogul and Melinda Power are attempting to compile a comprehensive list of the names and contact information of all people who fit into these three sub-classes. The police recorded the names of all those they took into custody but the attorneys are also trying to identify as many people as possible who were only detained on the street. So far, they have identified 278 people who were taken into custody and charged, 218 people who were released without charges and 119 who were prevented from leaving the area for a period of time. It is important to identify as many people as possible in order to hold the police fully accountable for their unlawful actions. Any class member who previously contacted us, but has since changed their contact information, should provide us with their updated information. Also, it is not too late for people who were detained or arrested that night to contact the legal team, if they have not previously done so.

If you have any questions about the case, or would like to inform us of your status in one of the three sub-classes, please contact Brad Thomson, a paralegal working on the case. He can be reached at (773)235-0070 ext. 123 or at BThomson414 (at) aol.com. You can also update your contact information by e-mailing Cheryl Angellaccio at cherylahere (at) yahoo.com.

In response to 'Anon,' I am part of the class, in the subgroup of people that were arrested and charged (later dismissed), and I have not been deposed by the defense. I may be in the future, but like 'paralegal' says, it does seem pretty doubtful that the city will expend the resources to depose every one of us. So far, it is my understanding that they have been focusing on the people the police believe were the 'leaders' of the M20 action (probably since authoritarian organizations like the CPD can only comprehend dealing with what they believe to be the head of an unruly dragon).

As for the type of questions they would ask, maybe an attorney or paralegal can help here, but I seriously doubt your legal counsel would let you answer a question like the one 'Anon' claims the defense would ask (name names of people at peace group meetings). And I am presuming that anyone not experienced with depositions would not allow themselves to be deposed without representation (that's what I plan to do if called). Asking about all of your free associations with other peace actiivists, unrelated to the events of M20, sounds like a 1st Amendment violation, and maybe could also be attacked on the gound that it isn't relevant to the lawsuit.

What they can and can't ask you at a deposition is a good question, and maybe someone from the M20 team can comment on that (to either put people in the class at ease, or prepare them for the worst).

congratulations to the nlg and everyone that continues to work on this. it looks like well get our day in court after all.

i remember one of the toughest things about being arrested that day was having to sit in jail for 12+ hours and then having to go directly to a wedding to make a best man speech. i think that was the most political best man toasts in a long time.

thanks again.