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| From: Cheeky Chili |
"[May 21, 2000] The recent ruling restricting police use of pepper spray to subdue nonviolent protesters is a positive step toward eradicating a potentially lethal practice, Amnesty International said today.
Earlier this week the UN Committee against Torture criticized the USA about 'the number of cases of police ill-treatment of civilians....' The misuse of pepper spray by US police was one of a number of concerns raised by Amnesty International in its report to the Committee.
The San Francisco federal appeals court ruled on 4 May that the use of Oleoresin Capsicum (OC) spray (also known as 'pepper spray') may in some circumstances constitute an unconstitutionally 'unreasonable use of force.'
'However, due to the risks associated with pepper spray, its use is questionable in any circumstances,' Amnesty International stressed.
The ruling does not ban the use of OC spray, but indicates that there are limitations on when it is appropriate for use by law enforcement agents.
The ruling stemmed from incidents in 1997 in which Humboldt Country law enforcement officials in California swabbed liquid OC directly into the eyes of non-violent anti-logging protesters and sprayed the caustic chemical into the protesters' faces from inches away. Amnesty International at the time condemned the action as 'tantamount to torture.'
After a federal judge had dismissed a civil rights suit brought by the protesters on the ground that the procedure caused only 'transient pain,' a three-judge panel revived the case. They noted that 'The evidence suggests the protesters suffered excruciating pain' from the use of the pepper spray, and because the protesters posed no danger to anyone at the time, a jury should decide if that amount of force was unreasonable under the circumstances. The 4th Amendment to the US Constitution allows police to use only as much force as is 'reasonable' to make an arrest.
'This ruling should clearly signal to law enforcement officers that it is no longer acceptable to use pepper spray in such a calculated and deliberate way to inflict pain as a way of subduing demonstrators who pose no threat,' Amnesty International said.
'We now hope that it will influence police practises not only in California, but in the USA as a whole.'"— everything2
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| From: Galls |
"A late-1997 Berkeley Police Review Commission study found OC [oleoresin capsicum] to not only be a 'serious' health risk, but also ineffective at stopping an attack 53%-63% of the time. This study, amidst the larger political climate, led to Berkeley banning it. In May 2000, a pivotal appeals court decision was won by activists sprayed and Q-Tip-swabbed with pepper liquid while protesting the logging of ancient redwood trees. The win gets the activists another jury trial (the first was split 4-4) and holds the top officers personally liable." — nopepperspray.org
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