On July 19, the American Civil Liberties Union of Eastern Missouri filed a suit against the St. Louis County Police Department for failing to comply with a Sunshine Law request. In February, the ACLU requested public records, including a copy of an anonymous letter sent to the department that alleged that former Lt. Patrick Hayes engaged in racial profiling practices. The Department has refused to release any records.
“We have informed representatives of the St. Louis County Police Department multiple times that they are violating Missouri’s Sunshine Law by refusing to release the letter,” explains Tony Rothert, legal director of the ACLU-EM. “After five months of trying to resolve the matter without litigation, we decided to ask the courts to enforce the Sunshine Law.”
“Transparency provided by the Sunshine Law is always important, but even more so in situations involving allegations of racial profiling by the police,” says Jeffrey Mittman, the ACLU-EM’s executive director.