Milwaukee says 'stop and frisk' lawsuit moot now that Chief Flynn has retired

A class-action civil rights lawsuit over a Milwaukee police practice of high-volume stops-and-frisks should be thrown out now that its "sole architect"  — former Chief Edward Flynn — has retired, the city claims.

In a motion to dismiss, the city's lawyers cite Flynn's departure and the city's nascent efforts at reforms pursuant to a Department of Justice review as reasons the lawsuit is now moot and should be dismissed. The city argues there is "no reasonable expectation" that the challenged practices will continue.

The ACLU sued the city and Flynn early last year, claiming police routinely stopped thousands of minorities without cause or suspicion. It named the city, Flynn and the Fire and Police Commission as defendants.

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Flynn denied his department practiced stop-and-frisk and defended high-volume traffic stops as effective in reducing nonfatal shootings, robberies and car thefts.

Once Flynn announced his impending retirement, the city's lawyers in January sought to have the ACLU suit dismissed. The ACLU vigorously opposed the motion.

"Defendants ask this Court to reach an unprecedented conclusion: that, where an unconstitutional municipal policy, practice, and custom exists, the departure of a senior official moots any legal action to vindicate the rights of those impacted by the city’s unlawful conduct."

The lawsuit claims that the practice of racially discriminatory, suspicionless stops is so ingrained at the department that it could not be expected to suddenly stop with Flynn's departure. 

The ACLU says cases cited by the city in support of dismissal for mootness involve the personal conduct of a public official who leaves office, not the institutional custom and practice of an entire department. 

Interim Chief Alfonso Morales has broken up the Neighborhood Task Force that performed most of the traffic stops and has said he does not expect officers to meet quotas for stopping and questioning people even in high crime areas.

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As to promises that the city intends to reform Milwaukee police practices, they are, at this, point, just that, the ACLU argues. 

"It is well-established that voluntary-cessation doctrine requires more than gesturing toward actions that would be a good first step if taken, which is at most what Defendants have done."

U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman has not ruled on the city's motion to dismiss, as the case remains in mediation.

The Wisconsin Justice Initiative blog first reported the city's motion to dismiss.