Judge orders damages to Bush protesters

Two former Cedar Rapids teachers who were illegally strip-searched in 2004 will be awarded about $440,385 plus attorney fees after six years, two trials, an appeal and many motions.

U.S. District Chief Judge Linda Reade,  following an 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision, filed an order last week on her recalculation of a jury's award damages after she reduced the $750,000 award to $75,000 in a 2008 ruling.

Former teachers, Alice McCabe and Christine Nelson, were arrested during a President Bush campaign rally in Cedar Rapids in 2004. Evidence at trial showed that Michelle Mais, a former Linn County jailer, conducted an illegal strip-search on the women after the arrest.

After the first trial, Mais filed a motion for a new trial, saying the award was excessive, and the court granted the motion. Reade then lowered the award to $75,000 and Nelson and McCabe refused the award and went to trial a second time. In that trial they were awarded $55,802 and then appealed the $75,000.

The 8th Circuit ruled Reade erred in using case law from 1978 to calculate the $75,000. She selected an amount for two plaintiffs that relied on case law involving a single plaintiff and she failed to calculate how much a $75,000 award for an incident in 1978 would equal a 2004 incident after adjusting for inflation, the court ruled.

McCabe and Nelson had the right to accept this $440,382 award or have a third trial, but their attorney David O'Brien said Monday they accepted this award.

O'Brien said it was significantly less than the first jury's award of $750,000 but Reade followed the court of appeals decision and after a “long battle” McCabe and Nelson were satisfied with this award.

“I hope people understand why people fight these fights to uphold the First and Fourth Amendments,” O'Brien said. “They have been the best clients.”

O'Brien said he also sees this case as a perfect example of why there shouldn't be any caps on civil damages.

“This shows how difficult it is to get a large award,” O'Brien said. “As in this case, you can see there are safety checks and balances we already have in place.”

Assistant Linn County Attorney Bob Hruska, who represented Mais and the county, said the remainder of the attorney fees and court costs in question also were settled.

“This is significantly less for the county – about $200,000 (than first jury award),” Hruska said. “This was exceedingly unfortunate for the victims and Ms. Mais.”

Hruska said he thinks both parties are relieved this case is settled.