Following a week of testimony in the civil suit of Will Walters v. City of San Diego et al, the jury rejected the claim that five San Diego police officers discriminated against Walters for wearing a short kilt-like costume at the LGBT Pride festival in 2011.
The eight-member jury in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District with federal Judge Cathy Ann Bencivengo presiding took less than two hours to reach the verdict. Judge Bencivengo’s decision to dismiss the case two years ago was unanimously reversed by a three-judge panel at the 9th Circuit Court of appeals; so, the case landed back in her court in March of this year.
Walters had accused the city of selectively enforcing the public nudity law at the event because of a bias against the LGBT community.
“The jury confirmed what we’ve always known, which is that San Diego does not discriminate in its enforcement of nudity laws,” City Attorney’s Office spokesman Gerry Braun said in a statement reported by The San Diego Union Tribune. “Our office would not tolerate discrimination against the LGBT community or any other group.”
Walters and his attorney, Chris Morris, made no comment following the verdict and it remains to be seen whether they will appeal the decision.
Good for the jury. They did the right thing. I hope that this will send a message to the police to continue to enforce the law and to the Pride organizers that gay pride is not an occasion for law violations and inappropriate attire. This should have been dealt with a long time ago, but better late than never.