News
2007-08-28
Chicago: Gays not
protected by 14th Amendment
A man who filed a
lawsuit after being allegedly beaten by Chicago police
because he is gay is contesting the city’s motion to
A man who filed a
lawsuit after being allegedly beaten by Chicago police
because he is gay is contesting the city’s motion to
dismiss his case—since the city is arguing that
gays are not covered under the U.S.
Constitution’s equal protection clause.
The Chicago
Free Press reports that Alexander Ruppert sued
Chicago police officers after he was arrested in March 2006,
when he was escorted out of a bar. The officers were driving
him to the Uptown station when he tried to use his
cell phone in the backseat of the police car. Ruppert
says the officers stopped the car, dragged him out,
and beat him while using antigay epithets. After he began to
bleed profusely, he told them he was HIV-positive. He
was taken to a local hospital, where he received 16
stitches around his eye.
The motion, filed
by attorneys for the city, states that gays as a group
are not included under the 14th Amendment, the
Constitution's equal protection clause.
The
amendment states: “No State shall make or
enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or
immunities of citizens of the United States: nor shall
any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or
property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person
within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the
laws.”
Ruppert’s
attorney, Michael Oppenheimer, told the Free Press
that the city’s position is an insult to
Chicagoans. He asked for an extension to argue against the
city's motion. Both sides will return to court
September 11.
“When we
filed the equal protection count, we knew the federal
government was behind the curve in recognizing that
the equal protection clause should cover sexual
orientation,” he said. “We expected more from
the city of Chicago.” (The Advocate)
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