Mills v. District of Columbia
| Decision Date | 30 October 2008 |
| Docket Number | Civil No. 08-1061 (RJL). |
| Citation | 584 F.Supp.2d 47 |
| Parties | Caneisha MILLS, et al., Plaintiffs, v. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Columbia |
Thomas Louis Koger, Chad Wayne Copeland, Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia, Washington, DC, for Defendant.
Four citizens of the District of Columbia ("plaintiffs") have filed a motion for a preliminary injunction to enjoin further implementation of the Metropolitan Police Department's ("MPD's") "Neighborhood Safety Zones" ("NSZ") checkpoint program and to expunge certain information collected by the officers at the first of these checkpoints. Plaintiffs allege that MPD's stopping and questioning of motorists and passengers at the various NSZ checkpoints constituted unconstitutional seizures of each in violation of the Fourth Amendment. Plaintiffs further allege that absent a preliminary injunction they will suffer the irreparable harm of a similar constitutional violation the next time a NSZ checkpoint is instituted. Because plaintiffs have neither demonstrated a substantial likelihood that this checkpoint program is unconstitutional; nor the necessary irreparable harm, the extraordinary relief of a preliminary injunction is DENIED.
On June 7, 2008, MPD concluded that violence plaguing the city's Trinidad neighborhood had reached grave proportions. During the preceding year, the neighborhood had been subject to twenty-five assaults involving a firearm, five of which resulted in homicides and six of which involved the use of vehicles. (Decl. of Lamar Greene ¶ 5, June 27, 2008 ("Greene Decl."); Def.'s Opp'n Br., Ex. 5, Request for Establishment of NSZ at 2-3.) In response, and following a particularly tragic triple homicide on May 31, 2008, MPD designated a portion of Trinidad a "Neighborhood Safety Zone" and erected eleven vehicle checkpoints over the course of five days at locations around the zone's perimeter. (Decl. of Cathy L. Lanier ¶ 4, June 27, 2008 ("Lanier Decl. I"); Greene Decl. ¶¶ 4-6, 11.) According to MPD's Chief, Cathy Lanier, the checkpoints "served as a `fence' to keep violent criminals out of Trinidad," rather than "`nets' to capture evidence of ordinary criminal wrongdoing." (Lanier Decl. I ¶ 10.) MPD implemented the checkpoints pursuant to its NSZ checkpoints program, which was established by MPD Special Order 08-06, issued just three days earlier on June 4, 2008.
MPD officers staffing the checkpoints stopped 951 vehicles, of which they allowed 903 to proceed into the neighborhood and denied entry to 48 on account of either the operator's failure, or the operator's refusal, to provide a verifiable "legitimate reason" for entry. (Def.'s Opp'n Br., Ex. 6, NSZ After Action Report at 2.) The Special Order, which governed the officers' conduct, listed the following "legitimate" reasons for entry:
1) The person resides in the NSZ;
2) The person is employed in the NSZ or is on a commercial delivery;
3) The person attends school or a daycare facility, or is taking a child to, or picking up a child from, a school or daycare facility in the NSZ;
4) The person is a relative of a person who resides in the NSZ;
5) The person is seeking medical attention, is elderly, or is disabled; and/or
6) The person is attempting to attend a verified organized civic, community or religious event within the NSZ; . . . .
(SO-08-06 # 1 ¶ V.F.3.)1 Officers were authorized to request identification and proof of the reason for entry sufficient to "verify the accuracy of the reason." (Id. ¶¶ V.F.4-5.) Officers were instructed not to compel an operator to provide a reason for entry or verifying information; failure or refusal to provide a reason or verifying information, however, was sufficient to deny entry. (Id. ¶ V.F.5; Greene Decl. ¶ 8.) Operators that were denied entry, or that chose not to provide any information, were informed that they could park their vehicle outside the NSZ and enter the NSZ on foot. (Greene Decl. ¶ 8; Decl. of Burley Anthony Sanders ¶ 9, June 26, 2008 ("Sanders Decl.").) Failure to provide a "legitimate reason" was not a criminal offense and the lone arrest made at a Trinidad NSZ checkpoint was for driving while in possession of an open container of alcohol. (Sanders Decl. ¶ 12.)
Officers staffing the checkpoints also recorded identifying information on a Stop or Contact Report ("PD Form 76") for each vehicle stopped. (Greene Decl. ¶ 10; SO-08-06 # 1 V.G.7.) For vehicles denied entry, officers were instructed to record the "operator information, vehicle description, vehicle tag number, and reason for denial."2 (SO-08-06 # 1 ¶ V.G.7.a.) For vehicles either granted entry or whose operators elected to leave the checkpoint without providing information, officers were instructed to record the "vehicle tag number, and where appropriate, the reason for entry." (Id.) Plaintiffs allege that the information recorded on these forms was entered into police record keeping systems and/or databases. (V.Compl. ¶ 31.) At the oral argument on this motion, the District's counsel confirmed that data for up to 68 individuals stopped at NSZ checkpoints had been entered into a law enforcement electronic database. (
Plaintiffs Caneisha Mills, William Robinson, Linda Leaks, and Sarah Sloan each allege that he or she was stopped at a NSZ checkpoint during the June 7-12 Trinidad NSZ. (V.Compl. ¶¶ 1-4.) All except Mr. Robinson, who resides in the Trinidad neighborhood, were denied entry in their vehicles on account of their refusal to provide certain information. (Id.) Specifically, Ms. Mills was denied entry in her vehicle when she did not provide personal information regarding her identity and activities, Ms. Leaks was denied entry in her vehicle when she did not provide details about her political activity and intended community organizing, and Ms Sloan was denied entry in her vehicle when she refused to provide information about a political meeting she sought to attend. (Id. ¶¶ 1, 3-4.) Mr. Robinson further alleges that he was told by an officer at a checkpoint that he could not proceed to his house in his vehicle without providing identity information, which he refused to do. (Id. ¶ 2.) It is unclear, however, whether Mr. Robinson was in fact ultimately denied entry to the NSZ on that occasion. Plaintiffs filed their class action complaint seeking declaratory, injunctive, and compensatory relief on June 20, 2008 and filed the present motion for a preliminary injunction later that same day.
On July 18, 2008, nine days after oral argument on this motion, MPD issued a revised Special Order 08-06. (Decl. of Cathy L. Lanier ¶ 6, July 18, 2008 ("Lanier Decl. II"), Ex. 1 ("SO-08-06 # 2").) The revised Special Order included additional language further clarifying the NSZ checkpoint program's purpose and slightly changed the procedures governing the NSZ checkpoints, but did not alter its core aspects as outlined above, except in one respect. Consistent with Chief Lanier's decision after the first NSZ to preserve but not use the information gathered at the checkpoints (Lanier Decl. I ¶ 12.), the revised Special Order expressly provided that no data gathered at NSZ checkpoints and recorded on PD Form 76s was to be entered into any District of Columbia electronic database. (Lanier Decl. II ¶ 6; SO-08-06 # 2 ¶ V.O.13.) Instead, MPD's General Counsel was required to hold all PD Form 76s in a confidential file, absent a court order requiring otherwise. (Lanier Decl. II ¶ 6; SO-08-06 # 2 ¶ ¶ V.0.9.b.5, V.T.3.)
The following day, July 19, 2008, Chief Lanier authorized a second NSZ in the Trinidad neighborhood in response to multiple shootings early that morning by individuals using a vehicle to enter and quickly exit the Trinidad neighborhood. On that occasion, more than a halfdozen people had been shot, including a thirteen-year old boy, who later died. (Id., Attach. 3, MPD Information Flyer.) On July 24, Chief Lanier authorized a five-day extension for the second NSZ in response to information received indicating that "the threat of additional and future acts of violence by persons entering Trinidad in motor vehicles to commit such acts remains high." MPD also issued a second revised Special Order 08-06 to govern the extended NSZ's implementation. The second revised Special Order contained additional slight changes to the procedures governing the NSZ checkpoints, but did not further alter its core aspects.
On July 30, 2008, the Court held a follow-up hearing to assess the impact of MPD's revisions to the Special Order on the justiciability of plaintiffs' claims. (July 30, 2008 Minute Entry.) The Court directed plaintiffs to inform the Court and the District by August 4, 2008 whether they intended to amend their existing complaint and motion for a preliminary injunction to encompass the later roadblock and two revisions to the Special Order, or file a new complaint. If neither, the Court directed plaintiffs to brief the issue of whether the revisions to the Special Order mooted their initial complaint and motion. (Id.)
On August 4th, plaintiffs filed notice with the Court that, despite...
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Mills v. District of Columbia
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