The Populist Orator's Family Sues Tacoma Over a Bruising Arrest
James H. Ross and his wife seek $15,080, alleging that police locked up a screaming child and treated the family indecently after a theft charge.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
TACOMA, Jan. 17.—Special.—James H. Ross, the Populist orator and president of the Edison branch of the A. P. A., and his wife have brought suit against the city for $15,080 damages for rough and unwarranted treatment in arresting Mrs. Ross and her children at the time Mr. Ross was charged with stealing $1,000 from Edwin V. Buckner. Mrs. Ross alleges that the officers conducted themselves in a violent and indecent manner. One of her children, she claims, was locked up in a room at the Edison police station simply to cause it to scream and cry.
“One of her children, she claims, was locked up in a room at the Edison police station simply to cause it to scream and cry.”
Police-accountability lawsuits remain a familiar part of Tacoma and Seattle civic life, and this filing shows a public figure using the courts to contest how officers treated his wife and children. The A.P.A. connection also places the case at the intersection of 1890s nativist politics and local policing.
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