Newport Beach : ACLU Must Pay Officer $72,033 for Legal Fees

Last July, a police officer won $20,000 from the American Civil Liberties Union, which he said had violated his civil rights by ejecting him from a meeting on police spying.

Wednesday, the ACLU’s bill in the case more than quadrupled when Orange County Superior Court Judge Henry T. Moore Jr. decided that Newport Beach Police Sgt. Richard T. Long deserved $72,033 in legal fees and court costs.

Earlier, Moore had denied the ACLU’s request for a new trial.

In his lawsuit, Long said he had attended a 1980 public meeting held by the ACLU in Newport Beach. He was not in uniform but testified that he was on duty when he attended.

Midway through a seminar on police spying, Long was identified as an officer by speaker Linda Valentino. Rees Lloyd, then an ACLU lawyer, told Long to leave the meeting.

Lloyd and Long discussed the officer’s presence, and Long left, althought Lloyd invited him to return.

Long told jurors he was merely carrying out his duties as a police community relations officer. He said he was trying to find out what complaints, if any, the ACLU had about Newport Beach police operations.

ACLU attorney Robin Meadow pledged to appeal the judgment in the case, saying it presented important questions about the right of citizens to “talk back” to government officials.