Ferguson defiant once again, demands changes with feds
FERGUSON, Mo. — Defiance has often defined Ferguson in the 18 months since a police officer fatally shot Michael Brown and provoked an examination of how poor people and minorities are treated in the St. Louis suburb.
The latest defiant act — rejecting some parts of a Justice Department agreement to reform the city’s police and courts — could result in an expensive court battle.
Justice Department and Ferguson officials spent seven months negotiating before reaching a deal announced in January. But after a detailed financial analysis pegged the potential cost at up to $ 3.7 million in the first year alone, the Ferguson City Council had second thoughts.
On Tuesday, the council voted 6- 0 to approve an amended version that asks the federal government to change seven provisions in the agreement to keep the city solvent.
“We’re not trying to reopen negotiations. We tried to tell them what the City Council will agree to,” Mayor James Knowles III said Wednesday in an interview. If the Justice Department opts to sue Ferguson, “we’ll have to deal with that in court.”
A civil rights lawsuit could cost Ferguson more than the reforms. Vanita Gupta, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said in a statement that the department would take “the necessary legal actions” to ensure Ferguson’s police and court practices comply with the Constitution and federal laws.
Attorney General Loretta Lynch called the proposed settlement thorough and fair, and said she hoped it would be approved in order to avoid litigation.
Brown, 18, who was black and unarmed, was fatally shot Aug. 9, 2014, by white Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson during a street confrontation. Wilson was cleared of wrongdoing by a St. Louis County grand jury and the Justice Department, and he later resigned.
But a separate Justice Department investigation resulted in a report critical of police and court practices in Ferguson, leading to the proposed deal known as a consent decree.
Ferguson’s top officials have shown defiance from the start. Days after Brown’s death, thenPolice Chief Tom Jackson released surveillance video showing Brown’s involvement in a theft at a small grocery store just moments before the shooting, with the burly teenager pushing the store owner. The video’s release only heightened anger among protesters.
Knowles has defended Ferguson. Even as protesters and civil rights leaders called for reforms, the mayor noted that Ferguson was already making changes to municipal court practices aimed at easing the burden on people accused of minor violations. In fact, city revenue from court fees and fines has declined by hundreds of thousands of dollars since the shooting.