officers - The Black Vault

. ,
; .
FD·350 {J.Iev. 5-8·81)
...• /·',
( .
(··
(Indicate page, name of
newspaper, city and state.)
I
I
i
!
. i
i.
f
Suit Planned
to Block Gates'
Reinstatement
By JANE FRITSCH
TIMES STAFF WRITER
prepared Sunday for ~
.
I
!
i
i
I
'
i
. !
::
, I
. i
. !
: j
• I
. i
; I
Los Angeles civil rights groups
made plans to file a lawsuit today
to block the reinstatement of Police
Chief Daryl F. Gates as warring
factions of city government
possible
showdown in court.
Embattled members of the Police
Commission, which removed
Gates from his job last Thursd?-Y,
said Sunday they we're unsure
whether they would go to court
. today to defend their .action. Gates
. is expected to file a lawsuit in
Superior Court this afternoon demanding
reinstatement.
(Mount Clipping in Space Below)
t· The civil rights g~oups,' sources
said, plan to proceed in a separate
· action .with a lawsuit of their own,
ciaiming that the eity Council is
iiJegally attempting to overrule the
Police Commission. ,
I Last Friday, one day after the
c9mmission voted tq(>lace the chief
oh a 60-day paid leave, the City
c'ouncil ordered Gates reinstated.
I .
nder the City Charter, the
U
council does not have the
ppwer to overrule the Police Commission's
removal of Gates, but.it
does have the authority to settle
lawsuits "brought against the city.
In its 10-3 vote on Friday, ·the
council decided to ·settle Gates'
. anticipated lawsuit by reinstating
Him.
£
amona
Ripston, head of the
erican Civil Liberties Union of
li uthern C_alifornia, said represenf
;• RELATED STO~Y. 81
t~tives
------- ---- ------- ----------. --
of civil rights .groups
rpapped their legal strategy during
~one-hour conference call Sunday.
~he groups decided to file a "tax­
J¥lyer" suit, -alleging that the City
qoun~il and Gates have engaged in
collusion to reinstate him by settling
!'a phony, unreal lawsuit."
j So-called taxpayer suits normal­
It are filed against governmental
bodies by citizens whO allege that
tPx money has been. wasted. But
IJ.ipston said Sunday that the
groups will allege fraud, which also
$n be a basis for such a suit.
)
I
Date: LOS ANGELES TU1ES
Edition: MON, APRIL 8 1 1991
Front Section, Page 1
Title:
SUIT PLANNED TO BLOCK
GATES' REINSTATEMENT
Character:
or
Classification: 8 0-3 3 B
Submitting Office:
LOS ANGELES
Indexing:
~------------------~
SEARCHED.___ INDEXE0'---1
SERIAUZED·---.... fiLEO.._ ___ I
APR 1 0 1991
FBI -
LOS ANGELES If
U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los
Angeles) said in an interview Sunday
that she has agreed to be a
plaintiff in the activists' lawsuit.
Mark Ridley-Thomas, on leave as
director of the Southern Christian
Leadership Conference's Los Angeles
branch to run for the City
Council, also will be a plaintiff. he
said. :·
"This is a mess," said commission
President Dan Garcia. "I don't
know if they have standing. Everybody's
cpllecting their thoughts
· in a variety of different ways."
Garcia and commission member
Sam Williams said Sunday they
have not yet decided whether they
will resign from the pan.el, which is
appointed py Mayor Tom Bradley .
"It is not easy serving as a police
commissioner in a city where the
police chief controls and manipulates
'the City Council," said Williams,
a longtime member of the
commission. He said he is consider- ·
ing st~pping down out of frustration.
The · Police Commission had
placed Gates on leave pending the
outcome of a wide-ranging investigation
prompted by the March 3
police beating of ltodney G. King,
which was captured on videotape
by an amateur cameraman and
televised around the world. .
·Garcia said he, \oo, is frl;lStrated, ·
·but sounded a conciliatory note. "If
the chief is restored, we will try to
work· with him," he said. "All this
political fighting among . . . city
1}121
gl/(2A:t LAs~ri/iqqW-J; -~f!fi/DOJ
J