The State : Man Can Sue Over Maiming

Activist S. Brian Willson--maimed when he refused to abandon the railroad tracks as a munitions train bore down on him--can sue three railroad crewmen and civilian officials for the injuries suffered when the train ran over him at the Concord Naval Weapons Station, a judge ruled in San Francisco. Chief District Court Judge Robert Peckham refused to dismiss most of a lawsuit by five activists, including Willson, who lost his legs in the incident on Sept. 1, 1987. The suit said that officials were given ample warning of the demonstrators’ plans to stay on the tracks and said the crew had time to stop the train. Peckham rejected the defendants’ arguments that they were immune from the suit because they did not violate clearly established rights. The demonstrators were protesting weapons shipments to Central America.