Rebecca Wilson v. James W. Webster

Plaintiffs appeal from the District Court’s judgment, 315 F.Supp. 1104 , dismissing their civil rights class action [ 42 U.S.C. § 1983 ] by which they sought to obtain injunctive relief against the sheriff, the district attorney, and other public officials of Santa Barbara County, California.

In the spring of 1970, student unrest in the Santa Barbara area had erupted into riotous violence on several occasions. By June 6, county officials determined that a state of emergency existed, and promulgated emergency regulations, including a curfew in Isla Vista, a section of the county in which a large number of students resided and where a number of the violent incidents had taken place. Within several days after the curfew had been imposed, Santa Barbara county sheriff’s deputies, aided by sheriff’s deputies from Los Angeles County and by California Highway Patrol officers, arrested and booked several hundred Isla Vista residents on charges ranging from unlawful assembly to arson.

On June 15, plaintiffs filed a complaint against the law enforcement officers and officials of the county, alleging that the defendants had, unlawfully and without any justification, arrested, physically…