MARIJUANA ACTIVIST SUES OVER ARREST

Marijuana activist Ben Masel filed a lawsuit Wednesday claiming his
rights were violated when he was arrested at Union Terrace in June
2006 while collecting signatures to get his name on the ballot as a
U.S. Senate candidate.

The suit, filed in Dane County Circuit Court , seeks unspecified
monetary damages and asks the court to find a policy prohibiting
people from soliciting signatures in specific areas of Memorial Union
unconstitutional.

Defendants include UW-Madison Police Officers Mike Mansavage and John
McCaughtry, whom the suit alleges "brutally manhandled" Masel and
sprayed him with pepper spray.