Attorney General Loretta Lynch pauses as she speaks during a news conference at the Justice Department in Washington about Ferguson, Missouri. The federal government sued Ferguson on Wednesday, one day after the city council voted to revise an agreement aimed at improving the way police and courts treat poor people and minorities in the St. Louis suburb. (Carolyn Kaster / AP)
(DIYA TV) — The federal government sued Ferguson on Wednesday, one day after the city council voted to revise an agreement aimed at improving the way police and courts treat poor people and minorities in the St. Louis suburb.
Attorney General Loretta Lynch and Indian-American Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta made the announcement, saying Ferguson’s decision to reject the deal offered by the Department of Justice left them no choice but to file a civil-rights lawsuit.
“The residents of Ferguson have waited nearly a year for the city to adopt an agreement that would protect their rights and keep them safe.… They have waited decades for justice. They should not be forced to wait any longer,” Lynch said during the D.C. news conference, held jointly between her and Gupta.
Attorney General Loretta Lynch pauses as she speaks during a news conference at the Justice Department in Washington about Ferguson, Missouri. The federal government sued Ferguson on Wednesday, one day after the city council voted to revise an agreement aimed at improving the way police and courts treat poor people and minorities in the St. Louis suburb. (Carolyn Kaster / AP)
In the complaint, the Justice Department accuses Ferguson of routinely violating residents’ rights and misusing law enforcement to generate revenue for the city — something which the the government has alleged was “ongoing and pervasive.” The city’s leaders “had a real opportunity here to step forward, and they’ve chosen to step backward,” Lynch said.
The scrutiny Ferguson has face from the Justice Department began with the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown. Black and unarmed, Brown was shot by officer Darren Wilson 18 months ago. Wilson dodged prosecution from Justice and a grand jury indictment before his ultimate resigning in Nov. 2014. A scathing Justice Department report has since followed, critical of the Ferguson police and an alleged profit-driven municipal court system. Following months of negotiations, an agreement between the federal agency and Ferguson was announced in January.
Recent audits of Ferguson’s financials determined the agreement between the city and Justice would cost the city’s struggling budget nearly $4 million in the first year alone — the city council voted 6-0 to accept the deal, but with seven amendments attached. Just hours before Lynch and Gupta announced the lawsuit, Ferguson city leaders made clear their intentions to sit down with Justice and renegotiate the agreement.
“We ask that if they (the Justice Department) feel there needs to be some additional changes to the agreement, we sit down and talk,” Ferguson mayor James Knowles III said.
In this Feb. 2, 2016 file photo, Ferguson Mayor James Knowles III speaks during a city council meeting in Ferguson, Mo. As Ferguson leaders consider a lawsuit filed against the city by the U.S. Department of Justice, the town’s effort at an amended agreement with DOJ acknowledged that losing the police department is a possibility. (Jeff Roberson / AP)
He added that the seven amendments were formulated after the analysis of the Justice Department deal revealed how elaborate the economic effect would be — so expensive in fact, that it could lead to the dissolution of the city, he said. The analysis suggested that the first-year cost of the agreement would be $2.2 million to $3.7 million, with second- and third-year costs between $1.8 million and $3 million in each year.
Ferguson currently operates with a $14.5 million budget, and currently carries a $2.8 million deficit. Even if voters approve the tax hikes they are being asked to in April, the city would still fall short of the necessary finances.
That invitation appeared as if it would go unnoticed — Gupta, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said in a statement that the department would take “the necessary legal actions” to guarantee Ferguson’s police and court practices comply with the Constitution and federal laws.
