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A year after the Democratic National Convention roared through Denver, controversy over how police handled protesters lingers. The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit yesterday on behalf of eight plaintiffs who allege that police illegally arrested them as they marched in a large group downtown (via United Press International).
The lawsuit cites the detention center nicknamed “Gitmo on the Platte” and says the detained were denied visits with lawyers.
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Mark Silverstein, legal director for the ACLU in Colorado, calls Denver police “wrong, very wrong” in making the arrests: “Police failed to distinguish between street marchers and others who were participating or merely observing from the sidewalks, where they had a legal right to be.” Silverstein tells Westword that 95 people were arrested: 54 of them didn’t accept plea deals, and 38 won jury trials.
Meanwhile, in a separate ACLU suit, the city of Denver is apt to settle complaints by a Sterling woman who spent five days in jail and a Denver man who says he was mistaken for a dead man. The two wrongful-arrest claims could cost the city $90,000, according to The Denver Post.