Lawyers for a
Chicago man who says police officers who arrested him
beat him because he is gay filed an amended complaint in
U.S. district court on September 7 to ensure equal
protection for their client regardless of
his sexual orientation.
They removed a
claim in their case that was based on the equal protection
statute in the U.S. Code but referenced the equal protection
clause of the U.S. Constitution.
"There is
more federal case law that supports the new claim,"
attorney Michael Oppenheimer said in a statement
regarding the case of his client, Alexander
Ruppert. "Our objective is to represent our client,
not make new constitutional law. We did not want to
burden the lawyers who are working every day to ensure
the equal protection rights of the GLBT community with
an adverse ruling--which might have happened had we
continued to pursue the original claim."
Ruppert was
arrested at the Uptown Lounge in Chicago in March 2006. In
the police car, Ruppert claims, he attempted to use his cell
phone but that the officers pulled over, dragged him
out of the car, used antigay epithets, and beat him
bloody, until he told them he was HIV-positive. The
officers then called for an ambulance, which took him to a
local hospital.
Last week the
Chicago Free Press reported that the city's
attorneys argued that the equal protection clause did not
specifically cover LGBT citizens, thereby making a motion to
throw the case out. Since then, the city has spoken
out, clarifying the report.
"Statements by the attorney for Mr. Ruppert are
misleading. This attorney brought the suit under both
sections 1981 and 1983 [of U.S. Code Title 42]," reads
a statement from the city's LGBT community liaison,
William Greaves. "The city is only moving to dismiss the
1981 claim because the U.S. Supreme Court holds that
section is only available for actions based on
ethnicity and ancestry. The city is not trying to
dismiss the 1983 claim, which allows the attorney to proceed
on the basis of sexual orientation."
Greaves told
The Advocate Friday that the city has been
nothing but supportive of LGBT rights, especially since
Mayor Richard M. Daley took office.
He called the
city a "progressive bubble" in the Midwest and said it
has one of the most vibrant LGBT communities in the country.
Some of Chicago's efforts include a gender-identity
nondiscrimination ordinance, bereavement leave,
domestic-partnership benefits for city employees, and
support for the Center on Halsted, a new LGBT
resource.
He declined to
speak about the pending case's details.
Oppenheimer and
Jon Erickson, who are representing Ruppert, asked for and
received an extension to argue against the city's motion to
dismiss the equal protection complaint. The case will
resume September 11. (Michelle Garcia, The
Advocate)