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Fort Help Methadone Maintenance Program v. Municipal Court of the Berkeley-Albany Judicial District, 1983-1984

 File

Scope and Contents

This case, much like Doe v. Coppock, also deals with improper police procedure in a methadone clinic raid in Berkeley. The ACLU represented Fort Help Methadone Clinic in alleging "1. improper police procedure a. in obtaining a serarch warrant, b. in serving search warrant, 2. Excessive force" against the City of Berkeley Police Department and related entities. Specifically named were an Officer Cataleta and an Inspector Bierce. The also violated "the special requirements mandated by State and Federal Law" required of privileged medical records in seizing these documents, which violated the constitutional right to privacy of Fort Help clinic users. It is alleged "that Officer Cataleta did not properly identify himself as a police officer during the early portion of the search, since he was in plain clothes, and testimony auggested he did not present his badge when requested to do so." Officers were also accused of bodily pinning the arms of clinic staff, most of whom were women.

The court's judgement in this case is not evident from the materials provided.

Dates

  • 1983-1984

Access Restrictions

Some case files in this series are restricted.

Extent

From the Sub-Series: 42.5 linear feet (33 record storage cartons and 3 legal document boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Repository Details

Part of the California Historical Society Repository

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San Francisco CA 94105