In a decision filed on Sunday, Judge Sullivan granted in part and denied in part the parties’ cross-motions for summary judgment in Dinler et al. v. City of New York – the consolidated actions brought by protesters arrested during the 2004 Republican National Convention in New York City. The parties’ fifty motions addressed four issues:

(1) whether the police had probable cause to arrest protesters and bystanders at a demonstration on Fulton Street on August 31, 2004; (2) whether the police had probable cause to arrest protesters and bystanders at a demonstration on East 16th Street on August 31, 2004; (3) whether the City’s suspension of its summons policy for minor offenses, when those offenses related to the RNC, was constitutionally permissible; and (4) whether the City’s blanket fingerprinting policy with respect to RNC-related arrests was lawful and constitutionally permissible.

Judge Sullivan dismissed plaintiffs’ claims challenging the constitutionality of the No-Summons and Fingerprinting policies, but granted in part plaintiffs’ motions for summary judgment, finding that probable cause did not exist to justify the Fulton Street arrests. He also found that questions of fact existed with respect to the East 16th Street arrests that require trial. Continue Reading Judge Sullivan: Some Arrests at 2004 RNC Lacked Probable Cause