ST. LOUIS, December 28, 2009 - The American Civil Liberties Union of Eastern Missouri today filed suit on behalf of Michael Bauer, alleging Bauer was held in the Jefferson County and Madison County jails for more than a month earlier this year on a body attachment that had been withdrawn in 2007. A body attachment is similar to a warrant but issued in a civil proceeding rather than a criminal proceeding. The suit alleges that unlike persons picked up on a misdemeanor or felony warrant, Bauer was never given an opportunity to appear before a judge to say that he was being held mistakenly.
Bauer came into contact with the police when he went to the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department to obtain a background check for a perspective employer. When the background check revealed a body attachment, Bauer was arrested and transported to Jefferson County. He was jailed primarily in Jefferson County but also in Madison County because of overcrowding in the Jefferson County Jail. He was released after a prosecuting attorney noticed the error and brought it to the attention of the court. During his 37 days in custody, Bauer lost his job and was evicted from his apartment.
“It is shocking that a man can be held in jail for more than a month without being given any chance to tell a judge there has been a mistake,” said Brenda Jones, executive director of the ACLU of Eastern Missouri. “If a person can be jailed here in Missouri without any recourse, then we might as well throw the constitution, due process, and everything that America stands for out the window.”
The lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. Bauer is represented by cooperating attorney Robert King of St. Louis and ACLU of Eastern Missouri legal director Anthony Rothert.
Oct. 5, 2011 Judgment
A federal judge entered judgment on 10/5/11 in an class-action lawsuit filed by the ACLU of Eastern Missouri on behalf of a man held in jail by mistake without seeing a judge for 37 days.
Plaintiff Michael Bauer was arrested in 2009 based on a body attachment that had been withdrawn in 2007 but never removed from the police database. Bauer was held in jail for 37 days without ever being given an opportunity to appear before a judge. When he was eventually taken before a judge, the mistake was immediately discovered and he was released.
At the time of his arrest, Bauer was seeking a criminal record check as part of the interview process for a better-paying job. When St. Louis police ran the background check, they discovered the warrant. Although it had been issued by mistake and withdrawn years earlier, it appeared valid in police databases. While he sat in jail waiting for an appearance before a judge, Bauer lost his job and his apartment.
Discovery in the case revealed that Bauer was one of nearly 500 people a year were being held for weeks in the Jefferson County jail without seeing a judge. Officials have now admitted that this policy is unconstitutional.
Under the terms of the consent judgment made final today, the Jefferson County Sheriff must release any person arrested on a body attachment who does not appear before a judge within twenty-seven hours, excluding weekends and holidays. The County is also ordered to develop a procedure to ensure that invalid body attachments are removed from police databases. The County will make monthly reports to the ACLU so that their compliance with the court order can be monitored.
“It is shocking that a man can be held in jail for more than a month without being given any chance to tell a judge there has been a mistake,” said Brenda Jones, Executive Director of the ACLU of Eastern Missouri. “If a person can be jailed here in Missouri without any recourse, then we might as well throw the Constitution, due process, and everything that America stands for out the window.”
“For too long Jefferson County flagrantly violated the constitution,” said Anthony E. Rothert, Legal Director of the ACLU of Eastern Missouri. “Their policy comes to an end, but we will be watching them closely.”
The case was in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri before United States Magistrate Judge Terry I. Adelman. Attorneys for Bauer and the class of similarly situated persons were Rothert, Grant R. Doty, and Robert L. King.