judge allows lawsuit against university of california berkeley administrators to proceed

by Tim Phillips

In November 2011, students and activists were arrested and beaten by police during an Occupy Cal protest. More than two dozen of them sued the police and the UC Berkeley administrators who arguably authorized excessive force and false arrests. According to an Oakland Tribune article about the case,

Police were seen hitting protesters with billy clubs and roughing up others who had linked arms to try and prevent the removal of a few tents on Sproul Plaza. … A UC Berkeley police review board and a subsequent report by UC administrators both found fault in the way UC Berkeley administrators and police handled themselves on that day.

Former UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgeneau, former Police Chief Mitch Celaya, and several other administrators asked U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers to dismiss the claims against them. Last week Judge Rogers allowed all but one of those claims to proceed.