America’s eight-year war in Iraq officially ended in December. It took two additional months for the city of Chicago to end its legal battle with demonstrators arrested for protesting on the first day of the conflict.
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In addition, the city spent at least $3.8 million on outside legal help, records show. That brings the total cost of fighting these cases to roughly $12 million.
The takeaway: the tab for taxpayers for the NATO and G8 summits very well might include the costs of litigating cases involving demonstrators. That’s because the city’s determination to “preserve disorder,” as the first Mayor Daley once put it, often conflicts with the desire of some protesters to raise holy hell.
City officials have said they’ve changed their policies to reflect Posner’s ruling. Still, it’s likely that the upcoming summits will leave the city with additional legal bills.
»Police don’t seem prepared for the huge protests the G8 and NATO summits will bring on.
»Read Judge Posner’s recent decision explaining why the 2003 Iraq protest arrests were unreasonable. (PDF)
»The U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security promises to respond to our request for information . . . right after their 421 other pending requests. (jpeg)
