The U.S. Department of Justice is suing the city of Ferguson, Mo., for unjust policing that violates the civil and constitutional rights of citizens, Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced Wednesday.
The lawsuit came one day after the Ferguson City Council voted to change a proposed consent decree to reform the police and courts. The council said the package, which had been negotiated between the DOJ and city officials, cost too much.
In a news conference, Lynch said the DOJ was sensitive to the city’s cost concerns throughout the months-long negotiation. She also said, “There is no price for constitutional policing.”
So basically, after months of negotiation, the City Council decided to just change some shit. They apparently think this is a winning strategy. So AG Lynch went nuclear on them:
“Today, the Department of Justice is filing a lawsuit against the city of Ferguson, Missouri, alleging a pattern or practice of law enforcement conduct that violates the Constitution and federal civil rights laws,” said Attorney General Lynch. “The residents of Ferguson have waited nearly a year for their city to adopt an agreement that would protect their rights and keep them safe. They have waited nearly a year for their police department to accept rules that would ensure their constitutional rights and that thousands of other police departments follow every day. They have waited nearly a year for their municipal courts to commit to basic, reasonable rules and standards. But residents of Ferguson have suffered the deprivation of their constitutional rights – the rights guaranteed to all Americans – for decades. They have waited decades for justice. They should not be forced to wait any longer.”
“Our investigation found that Ferguson’s policing and municipal court practices violate the Constitution, erode trust and undermine public safety,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “As shown by our lawsuit today, the Justice Department will continue to vigorously enforce the law to ensure that Ferguson implements long-overdue reforms necessary to create constitutional, effective and accountable policing. Ferguson residents and police officers deserve a law enforcement system that productively and fairly serves the entire community.”
In other news about shitty cops and asshole city governments who support and defend them, this just takes the fucking cake:
The City of Cleveland filed a creditor’s claim against the estate of Tamir Rice, the black 12-year old who was fatally shot by police in 2014, for not paying emergency medical service fees, CleveScene reported Wednesday.
The $500 fee is “owing for emergency medical services rendered as the decedent’s last dying expense under Ohio Revised Code,” according to the report.
Fuck you Cleveland and everyone in the city who let this happen.
Baud
I’ve never heard of a city essentially declaring themselves sovereign citizens.
Eric S.
A cop here in Chicago is suing the estate of the college student he shit and killed over winter break. Is this the front end of a new trend?
gwangung
Go AG Lynch. Fuck Ferguson. Fuck Cleveland.
singfoom
Good for AG Lynch and the DOJ. Fuck the City Council of Ferguson and fuck whomever in Cleveland who decided to add insult to injury after that poor child was murdered in cold blood.
singfoom
Also, can anyone explain to me what emergency services were rendered to Tamir Rice? The cops who killed him didn’t give him medical attention, it was an FBI agent who came onto the scene.
He was DOA when they brought him in I thought, so what services? ETA: Link has the invoice. The ambulance ride. Yeah, fuckers, you could have eaten that. Jesus.
Turgidson
I remember when our Attorneys General were primates like John “Let the Eagle Soar” Ashcroft, Alberto “I Don’t Know” Gonzalez, and Michael “Torture Enthusiast” Mukasey. I wonder if any of those civil rights trailblazers would have gone this route?
Mnemosyne
I’m sure that whoever issued that bill to the Rice family will say that they were just following orders, it’s not their fault. The fact that the letter of the law always seems to get enforced to the hilt against black folks will get swept under the rug, again. See also the different racial outcomes from supposed “zero tolerance” policies.
geg6
May all these motherfuckers and their families die after years of horrible suffering that impoverishes anyone left. I’m over these fuckers and I want retribution. It’s almost enough to make me wish there was a god to punish these bastards, but everything I’ve seen of god tells me he would side with them because he’s just as big an asshole as they are.
WarMunchkin
Thank you AG Lynch. Please, Chicago next.
Gelfling545
What “estate” would Tamir Rice be expected to have left? And what are they going to do about it? Ruin his credit rating?
Ridnik Chrome
@Turgidson: This kind of thing is why it’s important to keep the executive branch in Democratic hands. I realize I’m preaching to the choir, but still, it needs to be said. More than just Supreme Court nominations are at stake here…
the Conster, la Citoyenne
Down with Goldman Sachs!
Eric S.
@WarMunchkin: yes, please. Take down the CPD and their enablers.
Signed: 40-something, professional white male.
Eta: my proofreading skills are worse than normal today.
Roger Moore
Because defending a lawsuit by the DOJ will be so much cheaper.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
Loretta Lynch brought Sepp Blatter down. She’s a true American hero in Europe – they’re in awe of her. She can do this.
bin Lurkin'
Sanders was on The View this morning and spoke directly to racial injustice in the justice system and got enthusiastic cheers from the audience.
The interview itself was fairly extensive and much better than I expected given the venue.
Corner Stone
….and charge the family for the cost of the bullet.
MomSense
@singfoom:
NO. Just no. What fucking horrible people could do this??
WaterGirl
Love the thread title, Cole!
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@MomSense:
RACISTS
debbie
@MomSense:
The world’s full of all kinds.
In Michael Moore’s “Sicko,” he interviewed a woman who was injured and unconscious. She came to in the hospital and eventually recovered. Her insurance company refused to cover the ambulance bill because she hadn’t obtained prior approval, even though she noted that she had been unconscious at the time and was unable to comply.
Peale
@Roger Moore: they can gofundme for their legal expenses but won’t get a similar response to pay compliance costs.
Pogonip
I don’t believe 12-year-olds can contract debt in Ohio. The family’s lawyer should tell Cleveland to fuck off.
What kind of estate would a 12-year-old have anyway? The contents of his piggy bank?
Pogonip
Are there any other (nominal) grownups here who like piggy banks?
I have a lucky-cat bank but she’s not very big. We keep Canadian change in her for when we go to Niagara Falls.
Eric U.
I can’t see either youth actually having an estate, so I’m not sure what the point was. It’s not like his parents owe them anything, “take it up with him”
If it was me, and I could somehow contain my rage that would normally find an outlet via shotgun, I would use this opportunity to raise money for a civil suit. Seems likely to pay off
Schlemazel (parmesan rancor)
@Ridnik Chrome:
It may be the only branch we can keep in Dem hands. It is critical we not have the Federal government entirely in the hands of the nut job assholes. Neither Bernie nor Hilary – hell not Jesus Christ Himself – could get shit done against a GOP house & senate but half-assed weak, hardly better at all is 1000x better thatn what we would get unde a President Dump, Crudz, Kasbitich, Jeb? or any other shitheel the GOP could come up with.
Calouste
@Pogonip: I think (and lawyers can correct me here) that an estate can consist of debts as well as assets. Which is why it is possible to refuse inheriting an estate. So if the parents of Tamir Rice have accepted his estate, which they most likely have done by default, they would be responsible for his debts. It would be interesting to know if the City of Cleveland waited with filing the claim until a deadline had passed before which the parents could have refused the estate.
Felanius Kootea
Everyone knows cost of losing lawsuit and having to implement reforms is lower than cost of implementing reforms.
Actually I’ve heard people speculate that they are hoping for a Republican presidential win because the request for Ferguson reforms will simply vanish.
As for Cleveland trying to get money from the state of a 12 year old deceased black boy, something is seriously wrong with the adults in that city’s government.
SiubhanDuinne, Annoying Scoundrel
@Turgidson:
Hillary could do a lot worse than keep Loretta Lynch on as her AG for the first year or two. I’m very impressed with her.
Botsplainer, Cryptofascist Tool of the Oppressor Class
When President Trump or President Cruz begin the new administration after giving a Mondale sized drubbing to Bernie Sanders, the first thing that will happen will be the abandonment of these suits and the payment of fees to the defendants.
quakerinabasement
Lynch sicced a Gupta on ’em? Poor bastids.
And Cleveland? Why not go full Maoist China and ask ’em to pay for the bullet too?
Botsplainer, Cryptofascist Tool of the Oppressor Class
@Felanius Kootea:
If I was a black father in Cleveland, I’d be burning that motherfucker down about now.
Ohio Mom
Health insurance companies are most likely the reason young Mr. Rice’s estate got billed.
As it was explained to me years ago, a fee for an ambulance ride isn’t “usual and customary” if a city only bills those with health insurance. So everyone gets billed even though the city knows there are lots of poor people who can’t possibly pay up.
It’s a little dance that allows cities to collect some reimbursements via the residents who use the EMS system who have insurance.
Eric U.
@Calouste: I don’t think you inherit debt in the absence of assets. In general, you have to go through steps to inherit anything, I don’t think it happens by default
SiubhanDuinne, Annoying Scoundrel
@Pogonip:
I have bunches of piggy banks. My faves are the clear lucite ones that come in half a dozen colours and can be had for about five bucks at the Container Store. I love to get change and almost never spend it. Instead, I pop it in the piggies and once a year or so I count it all and roll it up and turn it in at the bank and use the proceeds for a vacation or other treat. It’s a painless way to save, and it really does mount up fast. Even pennies.
burnspbesq
@singfoom:
I have almost no doubt that the city is legally entitled to reimbursement for the cost of the ambulance service, but man, do the optics ever suck. Somebody exercised really poor judgment here.
burnspbesq
@quakerinabasement:
Don’t give them any ideas.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@Botsplainer, Cryptofascist Tool of the Oppressor Class:
Trumpeting last night, he said about Sanders “He wants to give away our country, folks. We’re not going to let it happen.”
Trump, like Obama and unlike Rubio, knows what he’s doing. I’m not sure Sanders really does.
Roger Moore
@burnspbesq:
My guess is that nobody exercised any judgment, which often winds up as the same thing. I wouldn’t be at all surprised to learn this was some kind of automated system that didn’t involve any human judgment at all.
burnspbesq
@Calouste:
I don’t know (or know of) many 12-year-olds who have wills, and IIRC (I dont think I’ve thought about intestate succession since the bar exam), if the decedent doesn’t have a spouse or issue the parents would inherit.
Roger Moore
@efgoldman:
There are now accounts that do that virtually. When you pay for something by card, they round the value up to the nearest whole dollar and deposit the difference into a linked savings account.
Mnemosyne
@quakerinabasement:
Kay was saying that the Rice family has retained a major bulldog of a civil rights attorney to represent them in their suit. The kind of guy you really shouldn’t piss off with petty bullshit like this.
Frank Wilhoit
What’s the over/under on hours (not days, hours) until [at least] one of the R candidates promises to appoint an AG who will quash this prosecution? (If it is Trump, he will of course promise to quash it himself.)
Mnemosyne
@Roger Moore:
It turns out that “fiscal conservative” really means “penny wise and pound foolish.” How many more millions of dollars is the state of Michigan going to be forced to pay to fix the Flint water disaster versus the thousands (at best) that they saved by doing it?
Ohio Mom
@Roger Moore:
or some low-level clerk who stuffs envelopes while day dreaming.
Botsplainer, Cryptofascist Tool of the Oppressor Class
@Mnemosyne:
Whatever you do, don’t wade into the Detroit Free Press comments on the plant to replace Flint pipes.
They tell you everything you need to know about white Christian conservatives.
Ohio Mom
@Mnemosyne: The bulldog of a civil rights attorney explains why everyone knows about this bill.
The Rice family could have quietly sent it back and the city would have put it into “costs we eat” pile, and that would have been the end of it.
But in the public relations war they are waging, it only makes sense to be shocked! by this bill, and make sure everyone else is shocked and disgusted too. Good move!
SiubhanDuinne, Annoying Scoundrel
@efgoldman:
I don’t have a credit card, only a debit — which for all purposes is cash. I’ve been cash-only for about 30 years now. There are occasional nuisances, but for me the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
Ferguson is far more important, but breaking news. Hat tip – Cheryl Rofer in earlier thread.
Live feed of David Fry talking to a supporter as FBI has arrived. link
The narrator is an asshole talking about Lavoy was assassinated and telling listeners to call the FBI and tell them to do their duty and stand down –
It’s kind of hard to listen to because of the slant.
Mnemosyne
@Ohio Mom:
So does the city of Cleveland not realize how bad they’re making themselves look, or do they just not care? Or, I guess, just assume they’re going to win or settle the lawsuit, so it won’t matter anyway.
Mnemosyne
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q):
I wish I could come up with some good snark but, Jaysus, an unarmed kid like Michael Brown is a hardened criminal who can be shot in the street like a dog, but a guy who takes over federal property and points a gun at armed FBI agents is not a criminal?
ETA: I’m not listening to the audio, so I’m drawing the Michael Brown reference from the initial post, not from anything said on the audio. Just to be clear.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@Mnemosyne: It’s really hard to listen to. Tamir Rice is dead, and these assholes are screaming at FBI that an armed occupation is nothing illegal.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
Now they’re screaming that the FBI promised Franklin Graham they wouldn’t arrest people. Through whoever the fuck “Mark” is. This Anderson woman is as wound up and loud as Fry. It’s alarming, enraging, and painful for my ears all at once.
Iowa Old Lady
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): “And we have the biggest audience ever, and everyone will see you kill us, and you’ll get a revolution, guaranteed.” Ick.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@Iowa Old Lady: Clearly I’m a masochist for listening to this.
Iowa Old Lady
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): The hysterical nature of it makes my skin crawl.
Mary G
Former LA sheriff Lee Baca pled guilty to lying to the FBI. They had an inmate who was blowing the whistle about brutal guards a in the county jail and to stop that they moved the informant to a different jail under a false name.
He faces a maximum of six months in jail, but will probably just be put on probation.
Le sigh.
SiubhanDuinne, Annoying Scoundrel
@efgoldman:
Likewise, to everything you said.
WaterGirl
@Roger Moore: Cynical me wants to know whether the banks get higher fees since they get a % of the charge as part of the fee and whether they charge anything extra for depositing in the bank account. Basically, I’m wondering whether they get you coming and going. Otherwise, that’s a pretty cool idea.
Renie
@efgoldman: OT was that dude Seebach from last nite a regular?
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
Live tweeting Malheur, that idiot Michele Fiore is on the livestream phone. Jesus G*d.
Cheryl Rofer
Call coming in from Franklyn Graham.
(I’ve moved over to this thread)
redshirt
If only we had tort reform….
WaterGirl
@Cheryl Rofer: I think people might be on the MOTU thread.
Pogonip
@Botsplainer, Cryptofascist Tool of the Oppressor Class: Why limit it to blacks? Citizens of all races are probably outraged. The more the better! The whole dang town, and the burbs too, should be picketing and raising hell.
Ohio Mom
@Mnemosyne: As said up thread, they no doubt bill everyone automatically. People do die in ambulances, this can’t be the first estate they’ve billed. The secret is that municipalities know that many if not most of the bills sent to uninsured people aren’t going to get paid. That’s the cost of doing business if they want to collect the occasional payment from an insurance company.
Goverments are supposed to treat everyone equally and in this small case they did. Yes, it looks bad, though needless to say, not as bad as what the police department and court system did! Anyway, optics are not the purview of the billing department.
Just be glad this works in the Rice family’s favor and that they are using this inadvertent gift wisely. Even people who don’t care about another dead AA kid can join in sympathetic hate of government bureaucracy.
Comrade Misfit
One of the bigger beefs that Ferguson has with the DoJ is that the DoJ wants them to give the cops a 25% raise.
Pogonip
@SiubhanDuinne, Annoying Scoundrel: Change DOES mount up fast. I have a pretty blue jar from my first job 26 years ago; DOD closed the site and they had a whole bunch of jars so e erybody got one (they had previously been given only to departing officers). My officer jar holds American change. Once I rolled up darn near $400 worth. I don’t roll any more now that I’ve joined a credit union with a sorting machine.
catclub
Does it bug anyone else that Loretta Lynch is still misspelled in the top of this post?
SiubhanDuinne, Annoying Scoundrel
@Pogonip:
I actually enjoy the process of sorting, counting, and rolling coin. Wouldn’t want to turn that simple pleasure over to a machine.
SiubhanDuinne, Annoying Scoundrel
@catclub:
Yes, but it’s a losing battle.
catclub
@SiubhanDuinne, Annoying Scoundrel: Kindred spirits.
Coins and pedantic about spelling.
Mnemosyne
@Iowa Old Lady:
There’s something very unsettling about listening to people with an untreated mental illness. I can’t quite explain it, but there’s that slight “wrongness” in the way they assemble their sentences that starts lifting the hairs on the back of your neck.
Mike P
Never forget…the GOP Convention is in Cleveland this year. Let’s just assume that there will be talk about how the #blacklivesmatter movement is making things hard out there for police, but little to no discussion of Tamir Rice.
AxelFoley
@gwangung:
My sentiments exactly.
MDW
Can anyone figure out what is actually being billed in the Rice case? The 4th page of the document attached to the linked article seems to show that insurance already paid for the ambulance ride, but then the city threw on $500 more for “revenue adjustment”.