Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch filed a civil rights lawsuit against Ferguson, Mo., after the St. Louis suburb rejected an agreement with the Justice Department that would have reformed their criminal justice system, reports The New York Times.
“Their decision leaves us no further choice,” Lynch said.
The town came to national prominence after Ferguson policeman Darren Wilson’s shooting of the unarmed Michael Brown. Brown's death galvanized the Black Lives Matter movement, which has since made its impact felt throughout the country. After the shooting, the Justice Department conducted a probe into Ferguson’s criminal justice system which cleared Wilson of wrongdoing but nonetheless uncovered deep and systemic problems of racism and misconduct.
According to The New York Times:
The federal and local authorities had spent months negotiating a settlement that would have prohibited police officers from making arrests without probable cause, installed a federal monitor and barred officers from using stun guns as punishment. But after city officials raised concerns about the cost of the settlement, the Ferguson City Council voted, 6 to 0, on Tuesday night to change the terms — knowing that the Department of Justice had promised to respond with a lawsuit.
For city officials, calling the bluff of the Obama administration was a risky move. Ms. Lynch and her predecessor, Eric H. Holder Jr., have brought an unprecedented number of civil rights lawsuits against municipal police departments. Ferguson’s own lawyer has said that fighting a suit will probably cost millions of dollars, well more than the city has budgeted. Nevertheless, Mayor James Knowles III said, “It will cost more to implement the agreement than it will be to fight a lawsuit.” He added, “There’s no point in agreeing to something we can’t afford.”
In announcing the Justice Department’s move, Ms. Lynch, who has a reputation for delivering impassive and guarded public remarks, was as animated as she has been in nearly a year as attorney general. “The City of Ferguson had a real opportunity here to step forward, and instead they’ve turned backwards,” she said. “They’ve chosen to live in the past.”
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