Good news from San Francisco: Private citizens who are illegally searched, arrested or beaten by law enforcement officers can sue the officers and their government employer for damages under a broad California law, the California Supreme Court ruled Monday. The 1987 law provides for damages of at least $25,000 for violations of constitutional rights as defined by state or federal law. The court, unanimously rejecting Los Angeles County's argument that the law applied only to acts motivated by bigotry, ruled that it could be used in a suit claiming false arrest and illegal searches by sheriff's deputies during a June 1998 investigation of alleged auto theft.