ACLU sues Denver police for ‘spy files’ investigation records

[struggle4progress]

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
June 14, 2005

DENVER — The American Civil Liberties Union sued the police department Tuesday for records of internal investigations prompted by complaints the agency kept files on peaceful protesters.

ACLU legal director Mark Silverstein said Police Chief Gerald Whitman denied an open-records request for the documents on grounds that their release would be “contrary to the public interest.” <snip>

City Attorney Cole Finegan did not immediately return a call.
Silverstein said the courts have overruled the police five times since 1996 and ordered them to release records.

In 2003, the city settled an ACLU lawsuit over the police department’s decades-long practice of keeping “spy files” on peaceful protesters. <snip>

http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20050614/NEWS/50614004

[annabanana]

1. Well I hope the ACLU gets everything they're asking for...

There's no reason to keep files on peaceful protesters...
(and there wasn't back in the '60's either) We never really manage to kill this beast, do we? Just knock it down for a decade or two..

[Gothmog]

2. ACLU is a great organization

I hope that the ACLU is successful in its fight

[LiberalFighter]

3. It's time to keep files on the police and others responsible

[carincross]

4. deja vu all over again

In April, 2003 the ACLU won a suit against the Denver Police Force for keeping secret files on over 3400 individuals and groups. The Police had years of files on everyone from Quakers to Catholic nuns. As part of the settlement the Police agreed to destroy all files, and to inform all those who were subjects of this illegal spying.

To show you how insidious it was, it turned out that my son and his high school friends all had files on them because they were reprimanded for talking about the Columbine massacre. They met with the Principal and were supposedly exonerated after explaining what they actually said. How the Police got files on every student involved is a mystery, especially since my son was 17. Neither he nor I, nor any other student or parent was informed that this information had been given to the Police. As a matter of fact the school didn't even bother to inform us that the students had met with the Principal.

Now it looks like the Police are doing it again. Thank God for the ACLU and Mark Silverstein. When people suggest that the Patriot Act is good and only "criminals" have something to hide, I tell them about my son and his friends, the secret files and the thousands of innocent people who were written up, and the Police state that we are fighting in Denver.