Activist files civil suit for alleged Eighth Amendment violations:
Earth First! member charges she was denied 'the minimal civilized measure of life's necessities.'
By GREG LEMON Staff Reporter
|
 |
|
A tree-sitting activist, arrested on the Bitterroot National Forest in 2002, has filed a civil suit in Missoula federal district court against Forest Service officials and area law enforcement officers for allegedly violating her constitutional rights as a detainee and protester during her arrest.
Rebecca Kay Smith, an environmental activist with the organization Earth First! is claiming $250,000 in punitive damages and $100,000 in compensatory damages in the lawsuit filed by her attorney, Tom Woodbury on Monday.
"Police officers have to abide by rules of conduct when dealing with detainees," said Woodbury. "The truth of the matter is convicts and prisoners get more rights then what she was given."
Named individually in the lawsuit are Missoula County Sheriff's deputy David Ball, Forest Service law enforcement officer Dale Brandeberry, Bitterroot National Forest supervisor David Bull, former Bitterroot National Forest acting supervisor Spike Thompson, as well as the Ravalli County Sheriff's Office.
The lawsuit centers on a protest Smith was involved in during the summer of 2002.
She and fellow activist, Joel A. Wyatt, climbed two ponderosa pine trees in the Rye Creek drainage to protest a proposed helicopter landing pad and the logging of timber burned in the 2000 wildfires on the Bitterroot National Forest. Smith remained in her tree for nearly a month.
During the protest, authorities removed food, water and other supplies from the site and cordoned off the area when the logging protesters refused to leave.
Law officers used a hydraulic lift to remove Smith from her tree and arrested her. Wyatt was arrested several days earlier after he left the tree in which he'd stayed for several weeks.
They were convicted on four counts, which included obstructing a timber sale with a hazardous device, interfering with a law enforcement officer, erecting a structure on forest land and overstaying a 14-day camping limit.
The convictions are still under appeal, according to a letter written by Smith on the Earth First! Web site.
During the protest, law enforcement officials cut off the protesters' food and water supplies, actions that are the basis for the civil suit, said Woodbury.
"Case law is very clear and long-established that it is considered to be cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution to deprive prisoners or detainees of 'the minimal civilized measure of life's necessities,' or to otherwise inflict any kind of pain or suffering which is grossly disproportionate to the severity of the crime," reads Woodbury's complaint.
It is law enforcement officials' obligation to know and understand this and the individuals named in the suit violated these rights, said Woodbury.
"The reason you name them individually is because there are points in the process where they go outside the scope of their authority," he said.
By bringing this to trial, he and Smith hope to prevent constitutional rights violations like this from happening in the future, said Woodbury.
"Both of us are motivated to bring this lawsuit so these kinds of things don't happen again. It's not about making Rebecca rich or anything like that," he said.
Woodbury issued a press release announcing the civil suit on Tuesday, but none of the defendants in the case have been served with the civil suit papers, and were not able to comment on the action.
"We have not received any information about the lawsuit," said Dixie Dies, public affairs officer for the Bitterroot National Forest.
Reporter Greg Lemon can be reached at 363-3300 or at glemon@ravallirepublic.com
|
|
|
Reader's Comments >>