San Francisco Officers Liable in Paper Seizure
SAN FRANCISCO — Former Police Chief Richard Hongisto committed civil rights violations in the removal of a newspaper from its racks, a jury found Friday.
The panel decided Hongisto and two officers committed the violations by removing from news racks 2,000 copies of a free newspaper that lampooned the chief for ordering mass arrests of demonstrators after the verdict in the first Rodney G. King trial. A cartoon showed the chief in a lewd pose.
The U.S. District Court jury awarded $5,600 to the Bay Times for losses and $30,000 to its editor for emotional distress.
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