City May Have to Pay Protesters

A whole new spin on the cost of dissent
City May Have to Pay Protesters
by Sarah Ferguson
September 3rd, 2004 7:07 PM


In Focus: RNC
City May Have to Pay Protesters A whole new spin on the cost of dissent
Passionate Conservatism Karl Rove's Republicans swerve right on the way to the middle
Sutton Impact: RNC: Day Four Bor-r-r-r-r-ing!
Victory Lap A spontaneous march reclaims the street halfway through Bush's speech
Guantanamo on the Hudson Judge orders immediate release of 470 protesters

As of Friday afternoon, nearly all of the more than 1,800 people arrested during the Republican National Convention had been released. Now some of them might be getting $1,000 checks from New York City.

In an extraordinary move, a judge last night held the city in contempt for refusing to abide by his order to release some 560 people who had been detained without a hearing for up to 67 hours, most of them on minor violations. New York Supreme Court Justice John Cataldo slapped fines of as high as $1,000 per person for the city’s failure to release people by 5 p.m. on Thursday. A hearing is expected next week to determine how many protesters remained behind bars beyond the cutoff time, and whether the city will actually be forced to compensate them....