NEW YORK, NY December 19, 2006 —Demonstrators jailed in 1999 after protesting the Amadou Diallo police shooting got a partial victory in court yesterday. WNYC’s Fred Mogul has more.

At issue was whether police had a systematic policy to lock up demonstrators. For misdemeanor arrests, the NYPD typically issues “desk appearance tickets.” But many of those who protested the Diallo shooting were put in jail – including celebrities, civil rights leaders and former mayor David Dinkins.

Attorneys representing about 350 demonstrators argued the lock-up was the result of, “an unwritten policy.” The jury rejected that argument. But it found that when the city formally instituted a written policy along those lines, in May of 2001, the city did, in fact, violate the 1st Amendment right to demonstrate, and the 14th Amendment right to due process. The city retracted that policy in July of that year.

Yesterday’s verdict makes the city liable for civil rights violations during those 2 ½ months. Although that period is too late to cover the 1999 protesters, there are about 2 dozen other plaintiffs who held different demonstrations in 2001 who now have standing to seek damages. For WNYC, I’m Fred Mogul.