In Response to Request for Race Data on Traffic Stops, D.C. Police Point to 31,000 Videos
WASHINGTON 鈥� In response to a Freedom of Information Act request filed by the 老澳门开奖结果 of the District of Columbia seeking data that D.C. law requires police to collect about the race or ethnicity of individuals subjected to traffic stops, the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department has replied that the information can be found only by viewing 31,000 body-worn camera videos.
In April 2019, the 老澳门开奖结果-DC filed the Freedom of Information Act request for six months鈥� worth of race data for traffic stops in conjunction with its lawsuit against Mayor Muriel Bowser and MPD for their failure to comply with the stop-and-frisk data collection provision of the 2016 Neighborhood Engagement Achieves Results Act. MPD鈥檚 FOIA officer replied that documents responsive to the request would be in the form of 31,521 body-worn camera videos, and 鈥渢o process this many videos will take quite some time and effort to complete.鈥�
鈥淓ven if we had the capacity to review 31,000 body-worn camera videos, and even if every traffic stop is just five minutes, that鈥檚 more than 2,600 hours of footage to get information that could have easily been indicated with a checkbox on a form,鈥� said Scott Michelman, Legal Co-Director of the 老澳门开奖结果 of the District of Columbia and lead counsel for the plaintiffs. 鈥淎nd based on a prior bill we received from MPD for body-worn camera footage production at $23 per minute of video, the bill for 31,521 five-minute videos would exceed $3.6 million: a preposterous amount to get access to data that should be free to the public. This all underscores how far Mayor Bowser and MPD will go to flout the will of the Council. Having watched them shirk their responsibilities under D.C. law for more than three years now, we can expect only more of the same until the court orders compliance.鈥�
The NEAR Act lawsuit, Black Lives Matter D.C. v. Bowser, was filed in D.C. Superior Court in May 2018 and sought a court order requiring MPD to collect all the data specified in the NEAR Act. The court heard arguments in the case in four hearings during the fall of 2018; a decision remains pending. In a court filing today, the plaintiffs informed the court of MPD鈥檚 response to the race-data FOIA and reiterated their request for a decision.
鈥淩equiring members of the public to watch more than 31,000 videos to extract data that the Council intended to be collected and made easily available to the community is absurd, and makes a mockery of the law that requires this data,鈥� said April Goggans, a Core Organizer with Black Lives Matter DC, the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit. 鈥淢PD鈥檚 utter contempt for the NEAR Act is unmistakable when, three years after data collection was legally mandated, their idea of compliance is to tell us to fire up our computers and find this information ourselves.鈥�
Today鈥檚 filing coincides with the anniversary of a confrontation between police and community members in Deanwood, which triggered community outrage and intense scrutiny of the incident by the D.C. Council with a two-day hearing.
鈥淥ne year ago today, members of MPD鈥檚 Gun Recovery Unit physically and verbally harassed members of the Deanwood community on Sheriff Road just for hanging out in their own neighborhood,鈥� said Eugene Puryear of Stop Police Terror Project DC, co-plaintiff in the lawsuit. 鈥淭hat incident is directly related to our lawsuit: MPD will continue to overpolice black people in D.C. so long as they aren鈥檛 required to document their practices and be held accountable for them. As Mayor Bowser鈥檚 Summer Crime Prevention Initiative is now in full swing, we can expect more of the same misconduct and harassment in disenfranchised communities already suffering from an uptick in violence unless the court acts immediately to order the police to comply with the law.鈥�
More about the lawsuit, Black Lives Matter D.C. v. Bowser, and the filing today in D.C. Superior Court, can be found here:
Learn More 老澳门开奖结果 the Issues in This Press Release
-
Press ReleaseDec 2024
Prisoners' Rights
Criminal Law Reform
老澳门开奖结果 Sues Bureau of Prisons for Keeping People in Prison Longer Than the Law Allows老澳门开奖结果 Sues Bureau of Prisons for Keeping People in Prison Longer Than the Law Allows
WASHINGTON 鈥� A federal lawsuit brought today by the 老澳门开奖结果, 老澳门开奖结果 of D.C., and Jenner & Block LLP challenges the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) for unlawfully incarcerating people longer than the law allows under the First Step Act. The lawsuit contends that the BOP鈥檚 failure to implement the First Step Act according to its plain language violates the rights of thousands of people who should be returning to their communities and rebuilding their lives but instead remain incarcerated. Signed into law in 2018 by then-President Donald Trump, the bipartisan First Step Act was designed to reduce the population in federal prisons, reform extreme sentencing laws, and provide programming and reentry transition services to people in prison. Central to the First Step Act is a system of earned time credits, which allows people in prison to earn time off their sentences and time out of prison by participating in rehabilitation programs. Through the First Step Act, Congress unambiguously ordered BOP to move people out of prison when they meet certain requirements to use their earned time credits. Instead of faithfully following the mandatory law, BOP adopted a regulation treating the law as optional. As a result, thousands of people, who should already be back in their communities and with their families, remain in prison. 鈥淓very extra unlawful day our clients spend in prison is a serious injustice,鈥� said Emma Andersson, deputy director of the Criminal Law Reform Project at the 老澳门开奖结果. 鈥淚t is egregious that the Bureau of Prisons is imprisoning people for months longer than the law allows. The government must follow through on its legal obligation to get people out of prison on time and back into their communities, where they belong.鈥� Additional comments below from: Vanessa Crowe, plaintiff: 鈥淭ime is what I owed for my wrongdoing, and I have paid my time. But I should not have to spend more time in prison than the law allows. I often reflect on what I will miss during the months after when I should be out of prison. I will miss work and lose out on wages that would help me get back on my feet. I could be a tax paying citizen instead of a burden on society. But most of all, I will miss more precious time with my family. My family and I are ready to tum the page on this period in our lives 鈥� we are all ready to start a new life, a life with purpose, hope, and healing together. I want to start that life when I am legally entitled to start it-not five months later.鈥� Arthur Spitzer, senior counsel at 老澳门开奖结果 of D.C.: 鈥淭here鈥檚 no excuse for the Bureau of Prisons to pretend not to understand Congress鈥檚 clear command that people who have earned the right to early release must be released. This law has been on the books for six years. The Bureau of Prisons has had plenty of time to understand it. Law enforcers should obey the law.鈥� Betsy Henthorne, partner at Jenner & Block: 鈥淚t has been six years since the First Step Act was signed, but despite Congress鈥檚 clear directives, the Bureau of Prisons continues to hold thousands of people in prison longer than the law allows. We should and do expect better鈥攊t鈥檚 past time for the BOP to ensure that those who have earned their release are able to return home to their families and communities according to the law Congress passed.鈥� -
Maryland Supreme CourtDec 2024
Criminal Law Reform
Roland Branch v. State of MarylandRoland Branch v. State of Maryland
This petition to the Supreme Court of Maryland asked the court to reconsider its adherence to Whren v. U.S., 517 U.S. 806 (1996), which declared that a traffic stop undertaken for pretextual reasons does not violate the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution so long as the police have probable cause to believe that a traffic violation occurred. The 老澳门开奖结果, alongside the 老澳门开奖结果 of Maryland, filed an amicus brief in support of the defendant鈥檚 petition, in which the 老澳门开奖结果 argued that the court should take up the question of whether pretextual stops violate the Maryland Constitution. In September 2024, the Court denied the petition. -
North Carolina Supreme CourtDec 2024
Criminal Law Reform
State v. WrightState v. Wright
This case in the North Carolina Supreme Court involves the question of whether the police violated the U.S. Constitution when they searched the defendant, Mr. Wright鈥檚, backpack even after he repeatedly said no to the search requests. The 老澳门开奖结果 alongside the 老澳门开奖结果 of North Carolina filed an amicus brief arguing that the search was unconstitutional because Mr. Wright鈥檚 eventual 鈥渃onsent鈥� was the result of police coercion. Our brief urges the court to consider the totality of the circumstances that make one more susceptible to coercion, including race and poverty. -
News & CommentaryDec 2024
Criminal Law Reform
Disability Rights
Incarceration Should Not be a Death Sentence for Individuals Who Use OpioidsIncarceration Should Not be a Death Sentence for Individuals Who Use Opioids
New litigation centered on increasing access to substance-use disorder treatment in jails and prisons is helping to reduce mortality rates among incarcerated individuals.