CHICAGO • The city has settled with 16 people wrongly arrested in a huge 2003 Iraq war protest and has told a judge it intends to settle a similar class-action lawsuit representing more than 800 people who were detained or arrested at the demonstration.

It's unclear how much the settlements will cost, but supporters of Mayor Rahm Emanuel said the city has learned valuable lessons from the cases that might prevent similar costly mistakes at the Group of 8 and NATO summits in May.

Gregory Gorman, the lead attorney for the plaintiffs in the smaller case, referred questions about the size of the settlement to the city. A spokesman for the city Law Department said the amount won't be disclosed until the administration seeks City Council approval.

The smaller case from the war protest was mediated by retired U.S. District Judge Wayne Andersen, and city lawyers this week informed the plaintiffs in the class-action case that they intend to start settlement talks with Andersen on that case, said Joey Mogul, the lead attorney for those plaintiffs.

"We think that it's time that the city stops wasting taxpayer money defending the indefensible," Mogul said.

She declined to talk about the cost of settling the larger case but said awards would differ according to how people were treated. Those who were charged with crimes and detained for more than a day would be entitled to larger shares of the settlement than those who were detained for hours on the street but not arrested, she said.

The city's defense in the case was weakened last year when Judge Richard Posner of the 7th U.S Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the arrests were unjustified because police allowed the demonstration to take place without a permit but then decided to arrest people for participating without giving them a clear order that it was time to disperse.

Confused demonstrators who said they just wanted to go home were arrested and held overnight. All of the charges were dismissed.

Emanuel's City Council floor leader, Alderman Patrick O'Connor, said he believes that the cases forced changes in how police deal with protesters. He pointed to the Occupy Chicago demonstration in October, in which police gave demonstrators a chance to leave and arrested only those who wanted to be arrested to make a statement.