Breaking news! A January 16, 2003 press release details all the concessions made by the City of Racine to the ACLU. Ravers 442, Racine Police Department 0.

Here is a brief summary of what happened:

November 2, 2002 - In Racine, WI, police raid a fundraiser at banquet hall, write $400,000 in tickets because some people at the event had drugs, illegally detain and keep people from being informed of their rights.

Police falsely report it as a rave party, in spite of the fact they had known about it for 3 weeks and had been asked to provide security for the fundraiser. FOX News asks why should we trust them? Even the Green Party believes an investigation is an order.

December 2, 2002 - Even after the prosecutor agreed to lower the fine to $50 plus court costs ($100 total), at least 147 want trials and special prosecutor may be needed to handle crush in the Racine court system. It appears that 70% of the first of three batches of kids, about 150 of them, said no way and pleaded not guilty and demanded a trial. Assuming this trend will follow with the second 2 dates, Racine will have about 450 cases to hear. Thanks to Brian Buckman for the summary.

December 19, 2002 - Most party-goers reject Racine plea deal by Tom Kertscher of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

January 10, 2003 - All individuals who have received citations have been asked by the Municipal Court to not appear at their upcoming pre-trial or trial dates while negotiations in this matter between the ACLU and the City Attorney's Office.

March 7, 2003 - Pete Karas reports that lawsuits continue on the civil level.

Scroll to the bottom of their updates page for the latest information, and please support the ACLU of Wisconsin, which is providing the majority of legal support for all the victims of this injustice.

Thanks to the users of Smokedot for their article, Rob McKnight for his post which help to call attention to this story, and Pete Karas for keeping me up to date on the latest news.

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