The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed class action status in the ACLU of Missouri’s lawsuit against the city of St. Louis last week, stating in their order that the case had been certified too soon.
“We were disappointed that it was vacated but the trial court will have another chance to consider it,” said Anthony Rothert, legal director of the ACLU of Missouri.
The ACLU of Missouri sued the City of St. Louis on behalf of Maleeha S. Ahmad after a 2017 rally in which police allegedly maced, arrested, and violently mistreated protestors, including an undercover police officer.
The litigation resulted in a temporary injunction requiring the police department to follow the U.S. Constitution during protests, according to media reports.
“A judgment from a court or an injunction can provide a change in policy but it is harder when it’s not a class of plaintiffs,” Rothert told the St. Louis Record. “The 8th Circuit is apparently openly hostile to class actions in general and class actions for enforcement of civil rights. There are other ways to enforce it but that is the way Congress set it up since 1966 and it’s still there.”
Congress approved Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(b)(2), which allows for the enforcement of civil rights through class-based injunction but, in this case, the Eastern District of Missouri appellate court ruled that there is no injunction needed to ensure compliance by the city with any permanent injunction granted.
“It tells me that the court doesn't agree with what Congress did in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(b)(2) and that just saying policing practices at protests is unconstitutional will cause the city to stop the policies,” Rothert said. “That may be true and we're willing to give it a try but it doesn't change that Congress provided for the enforcement of civil rights through class action lawsuits. Congress wanted to allow the enforcement of civil rights through class-based injunctions and the court of appeals doesn't think that's a good idea.”
The protestors rallied after former St. Louis Police officer Jason Stockley was found not guilty in the killing of 24-year-old Anthony Lamar Smith, a black man.
“Our claims include the use of chemical agents on people without warning and who pose no threat of violence to anyone and we have evidence that shows there's a policy of spraying people with tear gas and mace and other chemical irritants because police officers disagree with their message,” Rothert said. “Another challenge is a policy of letting police decide when protests can happen on streets and sidewalks because the city has no permit process for having a protest and, according to testimony from police, they allow protests or not as they see fit.”
In order for protesters to rally safely, Rothert said the St. Louis Police Department needs training.
“They don't have training on the first amendment and they don't have adequate training on how to not take protests personally,” Rothert said. “They don't have access to the mental health services that they need to deal with the stress of their jobs and their lives so that it's not taken out on people like protest groups. There is a new mayor now who has promised reform and perhaps that will be coming.”
Former St. Louis Treasurer Tishaura Jones became the first African-American woman elected to the office of mayor in St. Louis on April 6.