FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   
 

December 8, 2021  
 

Media Contact 

Sam Lew, 415-272-8022, slew@lccrsf.org   

Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area   

***PRESS RELEASE***   

Civil Rights Group Sues City of Sacramento for Withholding Records on Police Conduct During Black Lives Matter Protests 

SACRAMENTO — The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area (LCCRSF) is suing the City of Sacramento for withholding dozens of police documents on how police choose to respond to different protests depending on the content of the event, including disparities between the police response to Black Lives Matter protests and Stop the Steal rallies. The lawsuit alleges that the City of Sacramento failed to comply with the Public Records Act, a state law which asserts that the public has the right to access information of public importance from public agencies.  

The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area first submitted a request for information on February 26, 2021. The records request called for information about how police responded to protesters during Black Lives Matter protests in 2020 and subsequent protests, including Stop the Steal rallies (organized by known white supremacist groups) following the presidential election. The request also asked whether protesters were surveilled by police after demonstrations.  

Nearly ten months later, the City of Sacramento still has not provided a single public record. It has delayed disclosure without explanation more than ten times over ten months, despite numerous e-mails and phone calls from LCCRSF.  

“It is unjustifiable that the City of Sacramento is withholding essential public records about its police department’s actions during some of the most impactful protests the city has seen,” said Tifanei Ressl-Moyer, Thurgood Marshall Fellow at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area. “The City’s months-long delay to provide access to basic public records is a clear violation of the law – and demonstrates the lengths they will take to avoid even the most basic act of police accountability.” 

“The Sacramento Police Department continues to expose their complete lack of accountability through their pattern of withholding public records, including of police killings from families whose loved ones have been killed by law enforcement,” said Asantewaa Boykin, co-founder of the Anti Police-Terror Project. 

The suit is filed by the international law firm of Squire Patton Boggs LLP on behalf of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area. Says representing attorney Rafael Langer-Osuna, “As reflected in the Petition, the City’s delay is simply unjustified. Squire Patton Boggs is proud to step up on a pro bono basis and assist the Lawyers’ Committee in obtaining this overdue information.”   

The suit follows a similar lawsuit won earlier this year by the Sacramento Bee against the City of Sacramento for withholding documents on police killings.  

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View the Petition here.