Eugene’s police chief lacked direct involvement in curfew arrests following 2020 protest activity and is therefore immune from claims of retaliation made in a civil lawsuit, a judge ruled Monday, Sept. 14.

Chief Chris Skinner recommended a citywide curfew May 31, 2020, after “tumultuous” protests, as described in the order written by U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken.

Eugene protests starting May 29, 2020, followed the Minneapolis death of George Floyd, a Black man who was handcuffed and face down on the street when video showed a white police officer placing his knee against Floyd’s neck for several minutes.

A civil lawsuit alleged curfew enforcement by Skinner was “substantially motivated by a desire to retaliate against” the “exercise of constitutionally protected conduct” as well as against “the actions of others.”

The lawsuit alleges officers’ “terrorizing” of residents took place through the use of tear gas and firing of 40mm “sponge” rounds, as well as arrests allegedly made without probable cause.

But Skinner “issued no orders specifically concerning the arrest or use of force against any” of the individuals who filed the lawsuit, Aiken wrote. 

Aiken found “it would not have been clear to a reasonable official in Skinner’s position” that “generalized” curfew enforcement orders would result in a First Amendment retaliation claim. Skinner is “therefore entitled to qualified immunity,” the judge wrote.

Past rulings in the lawsuit have granted summary judgment in favor of individual officers and former Eugene City Manager Sarah Medary. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a district court ruling that the citywide curfew violated protestors’ First Amendment rights.

A settlement conference in the lawsuit may take place pending the availability of judges, according to online minute records from a status conference held Thursday, Sept. 17. 

The Eugene-based Civil Liberties Defense Center is representing the individuals filing the lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages.