Judge blocks report on UC Davis pepper-spraying

[alp227]

Source: SF Chronicle

A judge temporarily barred UC Davis on Tuesday from releasing a widely anticipated report of its investigation into the Nov. 18 pepper-spraying of student protesters by campus police.

Videos of the protest went viral, including now-infamous footage of one officer pacing before a line of huddled students for about 15 seconds as he coats them with the chemical irritant.

The visual record of officers in riot gear jabbing, spraying and yanking students prompted condemnation from around the world, as well as a lawsuit and calls for Chancellor Linda Katehi's resignation. Two officers and the chief of the campus police remain on paid leave.

The incident prompted the University of California to form an independent task force led by former state Supreme Court Justice Cruz Reynoso. The task force's job, UC President Mark Yudof said at the time, was to take a "fair and uncompromising look at what happened" and make recommendations.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/03/06/BAEF1NFJJP.DTL

[Justice wanted]

1. Protecting the wrong-doers

[truth2power]

2. Police investigating themselves. That'll work...

Bahkit, who had not seen the report as of Tuesday, said the union's effort to censor portions of it were not an attempt to keep officers from being disciplined. "

He pointed to a separate, internal police investigation. That report won't be made public. But its basic findings, such as whether police used excessive force, can be revealed, Bahkit said.

[JennyCait]

3. Spam deleted by OKNancy (MIR Team)

[BadgerKid]

4. Isn't UC-Davis basically a public (state) school?

I think there's an obligation not to delay release of the report.

[gratuitous]

5. Block the report? Yeah, that's a fair and uncompromising look

Apparently, whether it's pepper-spraying handcuffed protestors like they're so many rose bushes or raining down sudden death from the sky, there's no reason to get all hot to trot on investigating and reviewing the unassailable decisions of our law enforcment and executive people. If you haven't done anything wrong, you have nothing to worry about. And if you have done something wrong (real or imagined), you'll never see it coming, so there's no reason to worry that way, either.

Ain't that America something to see?

[JDPriestly]

6. If I understood the article correctly, this is just a temporary restraining order.

There will be more litigation, more papers filed, more argument and then a decision on the case. And then, there will may be an appeal. So this is not a final decision. That is the way I understand the article.