Ferguson was the flashpoint of a nationwide backlash against police brutality and civil rights abuses against African Americans after a white police officer shot and killed Michael Brown, an unarmed, black 18-year-old, in August 2014. According to court documents, the city is accused of engaging in “an ongoing pattern or practice of conduct” that deprives citizens of “rights, privileges, and immunities” protected by the United States Constitution.
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But as our report made clear, the residents of Ferguson have suffered the deprivation of their constitutional rights – the rights guaranteed to all Americans – for decades.
After the release of the report and several months of negotiations, the city announced a deal with the DOJ in January that would have mandated changes to its policing practices and overhauled its municipal court system.
Lynch concluded the Justice Department will proceed by the way of litigation and anticipates the city to respond in court.
Samuel Bagenstos, the former No. 2 official at the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, warned that the federal agency “is serious about bringing a lawsuit if they don’t get a deal”.
If the Justice Department doesn’t approve, a lawsuit is possible.
It also found evidence of racist jokes sent by some Ferguson police officers and court officials. So much for all that: after Ferguson welched on the deal this week, the DOJ announced its plans to sue. Ferguson City Council member Wesley Bell told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that the city would not be able to field another law-enforcement agency if the consent decree were entailed, given the steep reforms and strict oversight of the agreement.
Change seemed imminent. In 2015, the city elected two black city council members and negotiated a settlement with the Department of Justice that included reforms to police and court systems. Those figures were submitted by Jeffrey Blume, Ferguson’s finance director, who said that requirements in the deal to make police officers’ salaries competitive with surrounding areas would also have to be extended to firefighters because of union parity regulations.
“We strongly believe that this agreement, with the modest changes approved by the council last evening, achieves the goals of this consent decree”, Ferguson Mayor James Knowles III said at a news conference earlier today.
The agreement that City Council wants to change was negotiated over seven months between the city and the Justice Department. On Tuesday night, the Ferguson City Council unanimously voted to approve the deal, but only if the DOJ accepts seven amendments. Officer Darren Wilson was never charged in the shooting, but a Justice Department investigation into the Ferguson police department found what Lynch called “systemic and systematic” racial bias within the force’s policing practices. Council members cited implementation costs, which it estimates at $2.2 to $3.7 million for the first year, as the reason for the changes. “We intend to aggressively prosecute this case and we intend to prevail”.
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It’s important to note that the St. Louis County police have been operating under a less onerous agreement with the DOJ since October. A court battle could cost Ferguson millions in legal fees.
