September 7, 2026
Mayor Bass, Council President Harris-Dawson, and City Attorney Feldstein Soto:
I served this country as a United States Army veteran with the belief that the Constitution protects every American and binds every government official entrusted with power. I never imagined that I would one day have to fight the City of Los Angeles to protect the very rights I once swore to defend. This is therefore more than my case; it is a solemn test of whether constitutional rights are truly protected when the City itself is the one that violates them.
On December 23, 2025, a federal jury returned a $6.8 million verdict in my case.
Then, on August 26, 2026, U.S. District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong upheld the damages award and denied a new trial, finding that Slade Douglas’ victory “served the public interest by vindicating important constitutional rights” and describing the defendants’ conduct as “lawless, unconstitutional conduct.”
I was swatted by the VA for my advocacy for veterans, arrested by LAPD for calling 911 and taken to PIH Good Samaritan Hospital to protect the City and officers from liability. LAPD officers told medical personnel they needed to find something in my system to justify the arrest, and I was drugged, tortured, and sexually assaulted in an effort to fabricate evidence and cover up a retaliatory arrest. When no drugs were found in my system, I was released after seven hours.
The Court further recognized that the verdict may deter future constitutional violations and influence City policy.
This is about the people who wake up every day already carrying more than their share, working, caring for family, trying to survive, and trusting that the City of Los Angeles will not become another burden they have to fight. They deserve protection before harm is done, not sympathy after it is too late.
Los Angeles can now answer that recognition with action by adopting the Slade Douglas Liberty Act and turn what happened to me into protection for others, so no one else has to suffer the same abuse.
If the leaders of the City of Los Angeles expect the public to trust the power entrusted to them, then they must be willing to prove, through accountability, transparency, and reform, that the Constitution still governs how that power is exercised.
Very Truly Yours,
Slade Douglas