The Gateway Arch, part of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial in St. Louis, Missouri, framing the courthouse where the Dred Scott decision was read. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
By Alex Cane
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in Eastern Missouri is suing the St. Louis county police department over the refusal to turn over documents related to a cop’s instructions to racially profile. The ACLU says the lawsuit is a last resort after requests for public records on the case were denied, the St. Louis Riverfront Times reports.
The civil liberties group says that the police are violating Missouri’s public records law.
“If we don’t fight this, then the average citizen who is entitled to get documents just as much as the ACLU is will give up,” the ACLU’s Grant Doty told the Riverfront Times. “Then the accountability that this law was intended to promote is going to be harmed.”
The case centers around a cop named Patrick Hayes. A county police lieutenant, Hayes has been accused of ordering police to racially profile minorities. He allegedly said things like “let’s have a black day” and the the police should “let’s make the jail cells more colorful.” A whistleblower, who the public now knows is Sgt. Daniel O’Neil, made the allegations that eventually led to the firing of Hayes. O’Neil has also filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging that cops retaliated against him for his whistleblowing.
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