On December 22, 2011, the ACLU of Pennsylvania filed a lawsuit on behalf of Ed Coffin, an animal rights activist who was illegally arrested and held for two hours for handing out fliers on a public sidewalk outside of a Whole Foods store in December 2009.
The ACLU-PA argued that Coffin's experience was not an anamoly but rather part of a pattern by Philadelphia uniformed police of ignoring the First Amendment rights of protestors.
The city of Philadelphia settled the suit on January 24, 2012, with an offer of $15,000 to Coffin.
