Ruling on Sheriff’s Dept. Brutality Overturned by U.S. Appeals Court

A sweeping preliminary injunction issued last year by a federal judge against the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department for systematic acts of brutality against minorities in the Lynwood area was struck down Wednesday by a San Francisco judicial panel.

Two of three judges on the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the injunction by U.S. District Judge Terry J. Hatter Jr., which had applied to all deputies throughout the county, “was overbroad in its geographic and substantive scope, (and) not supported by the record.”

The ruling by U.S. Circuit Judges Mary M. Schroeder and Alex Kozinski suggested that Hatter should have held an evidentiary hearing before ordering the Sheriff’s Department to follow its own rules governing use of force.

Accusing the department of a “wanton abuse of power,” Hatter had also ordered it to send him every brutality complaint lodged against its deputies.

The dissent was made by U.S. District Judge William H. Orrick, who argued that Hatter could properly issue a preliminary injunction without an evidentiary hearing.

The NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, the legal representatives of the 75 plaintiffs in the case responded Wednesday that they were “ready, willing and able” to present evidence on the alleged abuses before Hatter.

Sheriff Sherman Block declined to comment on Wednesday’s ruling, saying that it was legally intricate and foreshadowed the likelihood of further hearings.

In issuing his injunction a year ago, Hatter concluded that many deputies at the Lynwood station routinely violated civil rights, were motivated by racial hostility and used terrorist-type tactics with the knowledge of their superiors.

Since the injunction was issued, there has been a change in command at the station, and Block recently sent a strongly worded letter to all personnel throughout the department admonishing against any types of prejudice.

The appellate panel held unanimously that the plaintiffs had standing to sue in the case in light of evidence of brutality. But the court majority found that “the plaintiffs presented no evidence supporting application of the injunction in areas other than the jurisdiction of the Lynwood station.”