[IMC-Boston-Dispatch] Fw: PCJ Sues to Strike Down Unconstitutional DC Checkpoints

[Sofia JarrinT]

--- On Tue, 7/8/08, Partnership for Civil Justice <no-reply at justiceonline.org> wrote:
From: Partnership for Civil Justice <no-reply at justiceonline.org>
Subject: PCJ Sues to Strike Down Unconstitutional DC Checkpoints
To: sofiajt at yahoo.com
Date: Tuesday, July 8, 2008, 8:16 AM


Partnership for Civil Justice Sues to Strike Down DC’s Checkpoint Program
Class Action Lawsuit Challenges Constitutionality of Stops and Data Collection 

Court Hearing set for Wednesday, July 9, 2pm
(public is welcome to attend)

The Partnership for Civil Justice filed a major class action lawsuit on June 20 in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia seeking an injunction against the Metropolitan Police Department’s "Neighborhood Safety Zone" checkpoint program.

A hearing on the lawsuit has been set for Wednesday, July 9, at 2pm in Courtroom 18 of Judge Richard J. Leon, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. 

In early June, 2008, the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) announced they were establishing a police checkpoint program in which they would seal off neighborhoods in Washington, D.C. The first checkpoints were immediately set up in the predominantly African American community in the Trinidad neighborhood in Northeast DC. Under the program, the police stop and interrogate drivers about their activities and associations, requiring motorists to provide identification and a "legitimate" reason for driving on the public roadways, including giving the identity and phone numbers of friends and family.

The lawsuit asserts that the roadblock program is an unconstitutional suspicionless seizure of persons traveling on public roadways in the District of Columbia. The lawsuit also challenges the District’s use of these mass civil rights violations to collect and aggregate data on the movements, activities and associations of law abiding residents and visitors to the District and seeks expungement of this information.   

The checkpoints are an extraordinary expansion of police power to stop, seize and interrogate individuals without any probable cause or suspicion of illegal activity.  They are also ineffective at stopping crime.  

“People want their children to be able to walk the streets in their neighborhood in a safe and secure environment. The District’s military-style roadblock system was deployed, in part, to give the appearance that the government is addressing this deeply felt need. But it is neither constitutional, nor effective. There is an urgent need to tackle the problems of violence, street crime, unemployment and education. This roadblock does not address any of them,” states the Class Action Complaint.

Copies of the Class Action Complaint, Mills v. District of Columbia can be read by clicking here, and the Memorandum of Law in Support of a Preliminary Injunction can be read by clicking here. 

The attorneys on the lawsuit are Mara Verheyden-Hilliard and Carl Messineo, co-founders of the Partnership for Civil Justice.

To learn more about the lawsuit, the media coverage, and the growing opposition to the checkpoints from within the Washington, DC community, see the following links: 

Associated Press Article, "Group Files Lawsuit Against DC Vehicle Checkpoints"

Washington Post Article, "Class Action Filed Over Checkpoints: Rights Group Calls Police Activity in Trinidad Neighborhood Unconstitutional"

Read the Complaint

Read the Memo of Law in Support of a Preliminary Injunction


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