ALEXANDER v. OKLAHOMA

No. 04-5042.

382 F.3d 1206 (2004)

John Melvin ALEXANDER; Juanita Delores Burnett Arnold; J.B. Bates; Essie Lee Johnson Beck; James D. Bell; Phines Bell; Frances Blackwell; Juanita Williams Blakely; Juanita Smith Booker; Kinney Booker; Dorothy Booker Boulding; Jeanette McNeal Bradshaw; Teresa Earlee Bridges Dysart; Johnnie L. Grayson Brown; Lee Ella Strozier Brown; Clarence Bruner; Lula Belle Lacy Bullock; Joe R. Burns; Rose L. Green Bynum; Muriel Mignon Lilly Cabell; Beatrice Campbell-Webster; James Dale Carter; Rosella Carter; Samuel Cassius; Naomi Hooker Chamberlain; Mildred Mitchell Christopher; Mildred Lucas Clark; Otis Granville Clark; Sandy Clark; Blanche Chatman Cole; Wordie "Peaches" Miller Cooper; Carrie Humphrey Cudjoe; Laverne Cooksey Davis; Dolly Mae Daufitt; James Durant; Lucille B. Buchanan Figures; Archie Jackson Franklin; Jimmie Lilly Franklin; Joan Hill Gambrel; Earnestine Gibbs; Harold Gibbs; Theressa Cornella McNeal Gilliam; Edward L. Givens; Bertha Guyton; Hazel Franklin Hackett; Mildred Johnson Hall; Nell Hamilton Hampton; Leroy Leon Hatcher; Madeleine Haynes; Joyce Walker Hill; Robert Holloway; Dr. Olivia J. Hooker; Samuel L. Hooker, Jr.; Wilhelmina Guess Howell; Charles Hughes; Myrtle Wells Hurd; Vera Ingram; Eunice Cloman Jackson; Genevieve Elizabeth Tillman Jackson; Willie Bell White Jackson; Dr. Hobart Jarrett; Artie Lacy Johnson; Wilma Mitchell Johnson; Edward Earven Jones; Hazel Dolores Smith Jones; Julia Bonton Jones; Percy Jones; Thelma Thurman Knight; Leanna Johnson Lewis; Katie Mae Johnson Livingston; Alice Higgs Lollis; Roanna Henry McClure; Eldoris Mae Ector McCondichie; Carol Smitherman Martin; Mary Tacoma Maupin; Willie Musgrove Means; Ishmael S. Moran; Ruth Dean Nash; Simeon L. Neal; Almadge J. Newkirk; Myrtle Napier Oliver; Juanita Maxine Scott Parry; Ida Burns Patterson; Freddie Scott Payne; June Alexander Powdrill; Alice Presley; Delois Vaden Ramsey; Cora Hawkins Renfro; Simon R. Richardson; Jewel Smitherman Rogers; Gerline Helen Wright Sayles; Julius Warren Scott; William A. Scott; Tuleta S. Duncan Shawnee; Veneice Dunn Simms; Hal "Cornbred" Singer; Naomi Siplin; Beulah Loree Keenan Smith; Golden Williams Smith; Lola Sneed Snowden; James L. Steward; Dorothy Wilson Strickland; Sarah Tatum; Lois White Taylor; Willie Mae Shelburn Thompson; Effie Lee Spears Todd; Melvin C. Todd; Kathryn Mae Taylor Tolin; Bessie Mae Austin Vester; Queen Esther Love Walker; Samuel Walker; Troy Sidney Walker; Oscar Douglas Washington; Mary Leon Brown Watson; Allen Matthew White; Cecil White; Marie Whitehorn; Mildred Evitt Wilburn; Bertram C. Williams; Louie Barton Williams; William Harold Woods; Clotie Lewis Wright; Wess Young; Donna Adams; Johnetta Adams; Thomas Adams, Jr.; C.J. Alexander; George Alexander; Lillian Alexander; Brenda Nails Alford; Betty Anderson; Rhonda Anderson; Robert Earl Anderson; Irma Thomas Anthony; Leona Jerrye Bruner Anthony; Mary Bell Arrington; Arven Autry; Elmer Autry; James Autry; Otis Autry, Jr.; Ruth Ella Autry; Marguerite Bagby; John Bailey; Nicholas A. Banks; Edith McAlester Barnes; Leslie Beard; Raymond Beard, Sr.; Audele McCleod Beeks; R.G. Bell; Wilma Presley Bell; Simon Berry Jr.; Rev. Bradford Bishop; Eugene Bolton; James Bolton; Oscar Boyd; Dorothy Williams Branlett; Dorothy Jackson Brewer; Patricia Dukes Brome; Naomi Lawson Brown; William Bruner; Brenda Fair Campbell; Henry Cannon; Nathaniel Cannon; Edwina Walker Carr; Bernard Carter; Eddie Hue Carter; Robert Carter, Jr.; Samuel Lee Carter; Elizabeth Cooley Chappelle; Anita Williams Christopher; Vassie Clark; Aileen Joanne Austin Coburn; Marilyn Kay Johnson Coley; Erline Crosslin; Bernice E. Banks Davis; Fred Davis; Roy Davis; Lawrence Herman Dennie; Evelyn Diggs; Robert Charles Dukes; Willie Dukes; Rita Duncan; Roger Duncan; Sylvia A. Dunn; Amy Gamble Eidson; Mary L. Emerson; Bill Ewing; Jo Ann Ewing; Robert Ewing; Janet Fair; Stanley Fair, Jr.; Wilbur Foster; Alfreda O. Dennie Franklin; John Hope Franklin; Jean Freeny; Thelma Kinlaw Germany; Margaret Jean Tilley Gibbs; Bobbye Louise Gilbert; Jeanne Osby Goodwin; Linda Edmondson Graves; Albert Grayson; Katherine Wood Hale; Leontyne Thomas Harrell; Delores Harrington; Mary Priscilla Parker Harrison; Jeanette Hawkins; Olander Hawkins; Starla Hawkins; Jobie Elizabeth Holderness; Maybelline Presley Hooks; Juanita Alexander Hopkins; Sharon Hopkins; Emma Lockard Horn; Maximillian Howell; Midlred Wallace Huspeth; Helen Sipuel Huggins; Clarence Jackson; Della Shelton Jackson; Gail Jackson; Genieive Jackson; Rosie Lee Jackson; Sayyid Jami; Arthur Jefferson; Lula Mae Jefferson; Matthew Jefferson; Robert Jefferson; Geraldine Fair Jessie; Carolyn Price Johnson; Felicia McLeod Johnson; Joann Johnson; Ronald Wayne Johnson; Val Gene Johnson, Sr.; Dorothy Jones; Eva Mae Tilley Jones; Melvin "Tip" Jones; Mildren Presley Kavanaugh; Vernell Kelley; Beverly Nails Kelly; Lorell Kirk; Francine Johnson Knapper; James Bernard Knighten; Maxine Jackson Lacy; Sandra Jean Davis Landrum; Caesar Latimer; Charles Sylvester Latimer; Hazel Latimer; James Harold Latimer; Jayphee Latimer; Lisa Latimer; Patrice Latimer; Burnece Lawler; Edward Lawson; Johnnye Cannon Lawson; Marcus Lawson; Margaret Ann Lawson; Palmer Lawson, Jr.; Glenda Lebeaux; Margaret Lee; Norma Jean Dennie Leshie; Jimmie Lewis; Joe Lewis; Lorraine Lewis; Cortez Lockard; Edward Lockard; Ernest Lockard; Frank Lockard; Jessie Mae Lockard; Oscar Lockard; Selma Lockard; Mary Loupe; Catherine Martin; Felton Martin; James Preston Martin; Nancy Martin; Faye May; Sarah Curvay Mayshaw; Leona Austin McCain; Pauline McCants; Denise McCray; Otis McCray, III; Lorraine McFarland; Jean Williams McGill; Donald John McGowan; Wallace McLeod, Jr.; Betty Presley McMillan; Ladawna Miller; Mildred Marian Hamel Miller; Peggy Ann McRuffin Mitchell; Oveta Mixon; Elizabeth Presley Monday; Pat Galbraith Moore; Ronald Earl Moore; Eva Gamble Morris; Clarinda Nails; Terry Nash; Eartha McAlester Norman; Mattie Davis Oliver; Lavada Louise Parker Osbourne; Audrey Banks Parson; John W. Patton; Lena Mae Johnson Payne; Julius Pegues; Geraldine Perryman-Tease; Wanda Ewing Pope; Esco Porterfield; Mark Porterfield; Jill Elizabeth Presley; Joyce Marie Presley; Lisa Presley; Raymond Presley; Ronald Dean Presley; Floyd Price; Jane Fair Pruett; Marcia Walker Puckett; Joyce Ramsey; Allene Knighten Rayford; Mae Etta Reynolds; Shirley Ridley; Patsy Robinson; Frank Eugene Rodgers; Eric Rollerson; Leon Rollerson; Wila Rollerson; Yvonne Rollerson; Janice Lou Johnson Ross; Billie Wayne Rucker; J.C. Rucker; Robert C. Rucker; Bobbie Jean Saulet; Mildred Louise Davis Scott; Theresa Davis Scott; Yvonne Fair Shaw; Billy Shelton; Diana Lynn Shelton; Johnny Shelton; Maime Shelton; Shirley Shelton; Euna Vann Smith; Fred Smith; Harriet Adams Smith; Ora Smith; Claudia Maude Smitherman; Cathryn Bell Snoddy; Betty Spears; Diane Anderson Steele; Patricia McLeod Stephenson; Laurel Stradford; Rosa Striplin; Carrie M. McDonald Strother; Martha McGlorie Swindall; Audrey Taylor; Byron Taylor; Bobbie Jean Carter Tennyson; Sylvester Terry, Jr.; Margaret Tharpe; Jerry Fields Thomas; Jessie Thomas; Erma Smith Thompson; Pansy Tilley; Clifton Joe Tipton; Rosezella Turner; Shirley A. Johnson Tyus; Maxine Jessie Vaden; Lorenzo Carlos Vann; Alice Boyd Vaughn; Fannie Smith Verner; Pamela Vinson; Marietta Anderson Waiters; Denette Maria Walker; Frank Walker, Sr.; Harry Daniel Walker; Harvey Leon Walker; Riley Walker, Jr.; William D. Walker; Marge Wallace; Maybelle Wallace; Mildred Cannon Wallace; Sylvia Ware; Olene Walker Washington; Jimmie Wickam; Yvonne Wiley-Webb; Charlotte Williams; David Williams; Fannie Williams; Grant Williams; Patricia Williams; Ida Louise Dennie Willis; Annie Alexander Wilson; Bertha Wilson; Bobbie Wilson; Elizabeth Wilson; Mary A. Wilson; Naomi Nash Williams Wimberly; Ramona Dinkins Wimberly; Edna Early Works; Charlotte Wright, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. The State of OKLAHOMA; The City of Tulsa; The Chief of Police of the City of Tulsa, in his official capacity; The City of Tulsa Police Department; Does 1 thru 100, inclusive, Defendants-Appellees.

United States Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit.

September 8, 2004.


Attorney(s) appearing for the Case

Michael D. Hausfeld, Cohen Milstein Hausfeld & Toll, P.L.L.C., Washington, DC (Agnieszka M. Fryszman, Cohen Milstein Hausfeld & Toll, P.L.L.C., Washington, DC; Charles J. Ogletree, Jr., Harvard Law School, Cambridge, MA; Suzette Malveaux, University of Alabama School of Law, Tuscaloosa, AL; Michele A. Roberts, Shea & Gardner, Washington, DC; Eric J. Miller, Western New England College School of Law, Springfield, MA; Adjoa A. Aiyetoro, National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations In America (N'COBRA), Washington, DC; Leslie Mansfield, University of Tulsa, Boeshe Legal Clinic, Tulsa, OK; James O. Goodwin, Goodwin & Goodwin, Tulsa, OK; Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr., Law Offices of Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr., New York, NY; Dennis C. Sweet III, Sweet & Freese, P.L.L.C., Jackson, MS; Sharon Cole Jones, Tulsa, OK; Rose Sanders, Selma, AL; Willie E. Gary, Lorenzo Williams, and Tricia Purks Hoffler, Gary, Williams, Parenti, Finney, Lewis, McManus, Watson & Sperando, Stuart, FL, with him on the briefs), appearing for Plaintiffs-Appellants.

Larry V. Simmons, Deputy City Attorney (Martha Rupp Carter, City Attorney, and Robert R. Edmiston, Assistant City Attorney, with him on the brief), City of Tulsa, OK, appearing for Defendants-Appellees Tulsa Police Department, the City of Tulsa, and the Chief of Police of the City of Tulsa.

Wellon B. Poe, Assistant Attorney General, Oklahoma City, OK, appearing for Defendant-Appellee State of Oklahoma.

Before TACHA, Chief Circuit Judge, BARRETT, Senior Circuit Judge, and TYMKOVICH, Circuit Judge.


TACHA, Chief Circuit Judge.

On May 31, 1921, and following into the next day, violent attacks destroyed the African-American community of Greenwood, Oklahoma. An angry white mob converged on Greenwood in a devastating assault, burning homes and businesses, killing up to three hundred people, and leaving thousands homeless. In February 2003, Plaintiffs-Appellants, all Riot survivors or descendants of survivors, filed suit against the City of Tulsa, the Tulsa Police...

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