District Court Judge Thomas Moore has ordered Gov. Charles W. Turnbull and two members of his cabinet to explain on Jan. 12 why they should not be held in contempt of court for violating a 1985 court order.
In a Friday opinion Moore sided with two vendors who had sued for relief in 1985, after the government revoked their permits to sell at Drake's Seat. The permits were canceled with no prior notice or hearing, thus violating the vendors' rights to due process.
District Court Judge David O'Brien, now deceased, heard the case against several officials who are no longer in public service, including former Gov. Juan F. Luis.
In his order, Moore said that O'Brien's preliminary injunction was never terminated or dissolved, and therefore still protects the rights of vendors Evaristo Rios and Terri Polak to do business under the Police Department permits they were granted.
Moore ruled that the two vendors can continue their Drake's Seat activity until the matter is resolved. He ordered the government to respond to the vendors' motion for a permanent injunction by Thursday, Jan. 11.
The government must also respond to a request by two other vendors to join in the lawsuit.
On the following day, the governor, police commissioner and ommissioner of Housing, Parks and Recreation must appear to show cause why they should not be held in contempt of court for having violated the 1985 injunction when they evicted Rios and Polak from Drake's Seat on Dec. 1, 2000.
In the meantime, there has been a renewed effort to halt the return of all vendors evicted from the scenic overlook. On Friday, police were out in full force preventing anyone from setting up, and for the most part, were successful. Some had returned to the site earlier this week to challenge the government's orders that they not sell their wares from the location.
Several were set up again at the overlook Saturday morning.