Judge Camp decision challenged in vegan case

Appeal rests on contention the judge was using drugs

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By Bill Rankin

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Lawyers for vegans who won $4 in damages against former DeKalb County police officers are appealing their denial of attorneys fee and noting their judge was allegedly using drugs when he issued the denial.

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Zachary D. Porter/Daily Report Senior U.S. District Judge Jack T. Camp Jr.

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In a two-page order issued in July, Senior U.S. District Judge Jack Camp denied the vegans’ request for $199,955 in legal fees and $4,239 in expenses. Camp said the lawyers performed admirably, but said he could not award fees when the plaintiffs recovered only nominal damages.

Earlier this month, Camp was charged with buying cocaine and other illegal drugs while involved in a sexual relationship with an exotic dancer. In an appeal filed Monday to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the vegans’ lawyers said Camp “was allegedly using controlled substances with some frequency at the very time of this hastily drafted order” denying attorneys fees.

The vegans, Caitlin Childs and Christopher Freeman, were each awarded $2 in damages by a federal jury a year ago. They contended they were falsely arrested by police after they and other vegans demonstrated at the HoneyBaked Ham store on Buford Highway in 2003.