Ferguson asked for it and gets it. DOJ files lawsuit for police malpractice

Posted By CotoBlogzz

Rancho SantaMargarita, CA - Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch announced today that the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court against the city of Ferguson, Missouri, alleging a pattern or practice of law enforcement conduct that violates the First, Fourth and 14th Amendments of the Constitution and federal civil rights laws.

The lawsuit, filed pursuant to Section 14141 of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VI), alleges that the city of Ferguson, through its police department and municipal court:

• conducts stops, searches and arrests without legal justification, and uses excessive force, in violation of the Fourth Amendment;
• interferes with the right to free expression in violation of the First Amendment;
• prosecutes and resolves municipal charges in a manner that violates due process and equal protection guaranteed by the 14th Amendment; and
• engages in discriminatory law enforcement conduct against African Americans in violation of the 14th Amendment and federal statutory law.  

The complaint alleges that from October 2012 to October 2014, African Americans were more than twice as likely to be searched, to receive a citation or to be arrested, than other stopped individuals.  Report does not say whether the stopped I individuals deserved it.  Of all incidents from 2010 to August 2014, African Americans account for 88 percent of all incidents in which a Ferguson police officer reported using force.  

For municipal offenses where Ferguson police officers have a high degree of discretion in charging, African Americans were again disproportionately represented as compared to their relative representation in Ferguson.  While African Americans make up 67 percent of the Ferguson’s population, they make up 95 percent of manner of walking in roadway charges; 94 percent of failure to comply charges; 92 percent of resisting arrest charges; 92 percent of disturbing the peace charges; and 89 percent of failure to obey charges.  

The department also found that Ferguson’s law enforcement conduct has created a lack of trust between the police department and the community members it serves, especially African Americans.   Report does not mentioned Ferguson law enforcement management  is not minority majority

On Feb. 9, the Ferguson City Council voted to reject the consent decree that the city’s negotiating team had negotiated.