Opinion ID: 437447
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Causes of Action

Text: 38 At trial, plaintiffs asserted that they were victims of three conspiracies to violate their civil rights, all actionable under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1985(3) (Supp. V 1981). They alleged that each of these conspiracies violated their First Amendment rights to assemble for peaceable political protest, to associate with others to engage in political expression, and to speak on public issues free of unreasonable Government interference. 35 The jury returned verdicts in favor of most plaintiffs on all three conspiracy claims. One civil conspiracy, the jury found, included the five FBI defendants; a second involved certain MPD defendants and the District of Columbia; a third implicated both FBI and District defendants. 39 Plaintiffs also filed Bivens 36 actions for damages directly under the Constitution, claiming that defendants had individually injured various plaintiffs in the exercise of their First Amendment rights.