The Detroit News
Detroit - The Detroit Police Department has adopted new policies to settle a lawsuit involving two men who claimed they were ticketed after challenging why police officers were wrongfully questioning them.
The 2010 lawsuit was filed in federal court on behalf of the two men by the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan. The ACLU claimed Detroit police violated the constitutional rights of the men, who were ticketed and charged with misdemeanors for questioning officers who had approached them.
The men, Ken Anderson and Phil Letten, were ticketed and charged in separate instances with "loitering in a known drug area" and "distributing flyers without a permit," though neither is against the law, said ACLU attorney Dan Korobkin.
U.S. District Judge Avern Cohn dismissed the case Monday after the settlement was finalized.
"These new policies represent a solid step forward for civil liberties in the city of Detroit," Korobkin said in a statement. "Police departments across the state should follow Detroit's lead and institute similar policies to ensure that innocent people aren't harassed when they stand up for their rights. It's not a crime to ask police questions or to criticize their actions."
Korobkin said Anderson was parked near Woodward using a laptop computer in 2008 when an unmarked police car pulled up and two officers approached him. One asked Anderson for identification; he asked why they were questioning him and was ticketed for loitering in a drug area.
The second lawsuit, filed on Letten's behalf, claimed he was distributing pamphlets about animal cruelty outside Comerica Park when an officer told them to stop. According to the lawsuit, Letten did, but he told the officer he was within his rights to pass out pamphlets on a public sidewalk, and asked the officer to show which ordinance he was supposedly violating.
The officer instead ticketed Letten for distributing fliers without a permit, even though no such infraction exists.
"We know what happened to Ken and Phil is not unique to Detroit," Korobkin said. "We hear stories from across Michigan of people harassed, ticketed or jailed as retaliation for asking questions or voicing complaints. It's important that police departments train their officers to safeguard against such violations that erode community trust and waste scarce resources."
Detroit's new policies, contained within training directives, were distributed to all officers and read aloud at roll call. The training directives will be distributed and read aloud again in June. They spell out citizens have a First Amendment right to question, criticize or complain about police practices. The policies also state that loitering, by itself, is not a crime and cannot be the basis for arrest or an investigative stop; and that citizens have a First Amendment right to stand on a sidewalk distributing noncommercial leaflets and fliers without a permit or license.
"We are committed and will continue to provide training to members of the Detroit Police Department to ensure that we are upholding the constitutional rights of visitors and the citizens of Detroit ...," said Police Chief Ralph L. Godbee Jr.
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