Ferguson lawmaker responds to federal lawsuit

Three Ferguson-area legislators are speaking out about the government’s lawsuit against the city.

The U.S. Department of Justice announced the filing of the civil rights lawsuit Wednesday, over Ferguson’s decision to reject the DOJ’s consent demands. The demands come in the form of a decree as a result of an investigation that found a pattern of unconstitutional police and court misconduct by Ferguson officials.

The City of Ferguson didn’t fully reject the proposed changes, but says they are too costly to institute all at once. So, the city offered to renegotiate with the DOJ.

One of the lawmakers speaking out is State Representative Courtney Allen Curtis of Ferguson. The Democratic representative tells ABC 17 news he understands the city’s financial concerns, but has an issue regarding the timing of the decision to challenge the Justice Department.

Curtis says he understands if the money is not available, “but you can’t do that at the last minute, on the day that the deadline was supposed to be met. They’ve been negotiating with the Justice Department for months. They hired a top-tier attorney; a high price per-hour attorney ,and we still had changes. That doesn’t tell me that we did all we could to ensure that, at the end of the day, we had a consent decree that was acceptable to all parties and one that the city could do, as well.”

Representative Curtis and the other two lawmakers, Sharon Pace and Rochelle Walton Gray, say (in a news release posted below) that they’ll work together to find solutions to try to protect the citizens of Ferguson.

ABC 17 News Programming Note: Representative Curtis will be our guest Friday night, on “This Week” on ABC 17 News at 6:30 on KMIZ, and at 9:00 on FOX 22 KQFX.

This is the text from Thursday afternoon’s news release:

Ferguson-Area State Representatives Express Disappointment and Pledge Action to Address Department of Justice Lawsuit

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – State Representatives Courtney Curtis, Sharon Pace, and Rochelle Walton Gray today expressed their disappointment with the City of Ferguson’s decision to reject the Department of Justice’s consent decree, which resulted in a civil rights lawsuit filed by the department. All three Ferguson-area legislators said the city needs to take immediate action to comply with the 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.

“I understand the city believes it cannot afford to implement the reforms demanded by the Department of Justice, but it also cannot afford a lawsuit that could cost millions, and the people of Ferguson certainly cannot afford for the city to continue to ignore the blatant injustices committed by law enforcement,” said Curtis, D-Ferguson.

“It’s extremely disappointing to see the city council refuse to do the right thing by reforming a police department that has committed violations the justice department described as expansive, deliberate, egregious and routine. The people of Ferguson deserve better and my colleagues and I will not rest until the people of Ferguson have law enforcement officials they can trust and respect,” said Walton Gray, D-Black Jack.

Curtis, Pace and Walton Gray said they are working together on a legislative solution that would create an emergency loan fund for municipalities. They said their goal is to provide the city with the money it needs to implement the reforms outlined by the Department of Justice.

“We know the city is already running a significant deficit, and the reforms will be costly to implement, but now is the time to move forward and make things right in Ferguson. That begins with fixing the city’s criminal justice system that has been broken at every level and failed to protect and serve the African American community for years,” said Pace, D-St. Louis. “If we can provide financial help in the form of a loan program, there is no reason for the city to hesitate in embracing the DOJ’s reforms.”

The three legislators also said they will work together to look for policy solutions that would ensure the citizens of Ferguson are not adversely impacted in the event the city goes bankrupt.

“The people of Ferguson have suffered enough and deserve to have peace of mind that their city is going to survive, and that its leaders will serve with their best interests at heart. I will continue to work with Reps. Pace and Walton Gray to ensure no further harm is done to residents who have already dealt with too many injustices for far too long,” said Curtis.

End of Release