By Sandy Alexander
WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected the appeal of an adult bookstore that claimed the Frederick City government owed it around $90,000 in lost property and damages stemming from a 1990 police raid.
The decision ends a 10-year court battle by the owner of Bradley Books in Frederick, which claimed that its rights were violated and its business injured when Frederick police seized print, video and display material for allegedly violating Maryland obscenity laws. Police also took video equipment used by the store.
Pinkley Inc., which owns the bookstore, is particularly angry that its property was taken without a hearing to determine if each item was in fact obscene, and that the items were later sold, destroyed or taken by police officers, said William Seekford, the company’s attorney.
Howard Schulman, the attorney representing the city and its police department, said the company did not follow up with the police to get its property back, and then waited three years to file a lawsuit.
But Seekford said the company did send a letter requesting the property be returned, and it went unanswered. Pinkley’s complaint also said it is the department’s practice to contact property owners when a case is concluded, but the bookstore was never notified.
The case began in early 1990, after a citizen’s complaint about the bookstore prompted an undercover investigation by Frederick police, according to court documents.
“At the time, we had a lot of complaints in the community,” about the sale of adult materials, said Lynn Board, Frederick’s chief legal services officer. She said that police acted in accordance with the law in the raid.
Court filings said that officers with a warrant to seize any items they thought were obscene went to the store on Feb. 7, 1990, and confiscated nearly 1,000 films, magazines and books as well as 17 videocassette recorders, removed $1,279 in cash and arrested a store employee.
Five months later, the employee pleaded guilty, but the materials stayed in police possession for 16 more months. Eventually, officers, believing the property was abandoned, disposed of much of the material and claimed some of the electronic equipment for department and personal use.
The federal district court in Baltimore in January 1996 rejected Pinkley’s claim that the raid violated its rights to free speech, due process and freedom from illegal search and seizure. But it said the city of Frederick owed Pinkley more than $20,000 for the property that was seized and never returned.
The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in August said that not only was the raid proper, but Pinkley could not recoup any money from the city.
Seekford blamed the lengthy process on the fact that both the district court and the circuit court waited over two years to make their decisions. He said he pressed the case to the Supreme Court in an effort to “accomplish a civil rights resurrection.”
Schulman said that was a long shot.
“The case was not taken by the Supreme Court because there was no significant legal or constitutional issues,” said Schulman.
The case has been “very time consuming” said Board. Even though the city’s insurance company hired outside counsel, city employees have been involved in preparation and trial activities.
