CITY TO PAY $60,000 SETTLEMENT TO EAST COUNTY ACTIVIST RAY LUTZ IN CIVIL RIGHTS LAWSUIT

By Miriam Raftery

December 12,2013 (San Diego’s East County) –The City of San Diego has agreed to pay $60,000 to settle a civil rights lawsuit filed by Ray Lutz of El Cajon, a former Congressional candidate and founder of the watchdog nonprofit group Citizens Oversight.

Lutz was arrested for registering voters in front of the Civic Center Office Building in Civic Center plaza downtown during the Occupy San Diego movement on November 29, 2011.  Chargers were later dropped and Lutz sued for battery and false arrest, among other charges, alleging that his Constitutional rights were violated.

In addition to $60,000 from the City of San Diego, Lutz will also reportedly receive an undisclosed settlement amount from the Civic Center Plaza building’s landlord and its security firm, since a security guard made a citizens’ arrest before police arrived. As part of the deal, Lutz’s arrest will be expunged from the record and Civic Center Plaza will agree to allow peaceful political activity on its property.

Technically he was on private property, though the area is within the public square bordered by City Hall, the civic Auditorium, the Community concourse and the Civic Center Office Building. Municipal Code section 52.80.01 prohibits trespass on private property but exempts “peaceful political activity” in areas accessible to the public.

Lutz argued that registering voters is clearly peaceful political activity.

He originally set up a table to register voters on the private property because on the adjacent public property, police had been using an “encroachment law” (Municipal Code section 52.0110) to arrest Occupy protesters for setting anything on the ground even momentarily; protesters were arrested for putting an umbrella on the ground and for bringing a Christmas tree to the site during the holidays. The encroachment law was originally designed to stop dumpsters from being placed in alleys.

Registering voters is considered protected free speech.

At the City Council meeting on Tuesday, when the settlement was approved, Lutz called n Council to “do the right thing and undo the actions of the city of San Diego for others.” He urged that arrests for “friviolous” reasons during the Occupy protest be expunged.

Among those speaking on Lutz’s behalf was Jeff Olsen, a protester who was recently acquitted by a jury of felony charges in San Diego for writing chalk messages outside Bank of America.

Andrew Jones, Executive City Attorney, said the city did not admit liability in the settlement and added that the City Attorney’s office strives to uphold the Constitution in each case before it, and “to do what is right based on the facts that are before us.”