Seattle ordered to pay $82K to Black Lives Matter lawyers
SEATTLE (AP) — The city of Seattle has been ordered to pay nearly $82,000 to attorneys for Black Lives Matter to cover their fees and costs in pursuing contempt-of-court violations against the Seattle Police Department.
The contempt violations were for the improper use of pepper spray and blast balls by police against peaceful protesters after the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, The Seattle Times reported.
The amount by U.S. District Judge Richard Jones ordered was much less than the nearly $264,000 in fees and costs sought by lawyers for BLM-Seattle and King County after Jones found police had violated his injunction prohibiting unnecessary force.
Jones did not place “coercive sanctions” against the city, sought by BLM, which would have required Seattle officers to provide BLM with use-of-force reports within days of every incident in which an officer uses force against a protester. The judge found those kinds of sanctions were not appropriate in this case.
Read more: https://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Seattle-ordered-to-pay-82K-to-Black-Lives-Matter-15907838.php
