Consent Judgment in ACLU Lawsuit Ends Enforcement of Anti-Leafleting Law

ST. LOUIS, February 4, 2010 -- In a consent judgment entered today by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, the City of St. Louis and the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department are ordered to stop enforcing a St. Louis City ordinance that criminalized the placement of political leaflets on vehicles parked on public streets.

The order comes in a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Eastern Missouri (ACLU-EM) in December 2009 that alleged a city ordinance prohibiting such behavior is a violation of free speech. Under existing precedent, the ban on leaflets “would be interpreted as an infringement upon the First Amendment speech rights of Plaintiffs and other non-parties to this litigation,” according to the judgment.

The plaintiffs in the case are members of Citizens for More Responsible St. Louis City Government. The group had been publicizing a petition drive that would have allowed city voters to affirm or reject a city ordinance in support of the controversial Northside Development plan. As outreach in their effort, the plaintiffs were placing flyers on the windshields of cars parked on public streets. This activity put them in conflict with city ordinance 11.18.180, which states, “No person shall throw or deposit any commercial or noncommercial handbill in or upon any vehicle without the owner’s consent.”

ACLU Applauds Judge's Ruling that Police Documents are Public Records

ST. LOUIS, December 14, 2009-- The American Civil Liberties Union of Eastern Missouri applauded a long-anticipated ruling issued December 11 by Judge Philip Heagney. The decision came in a case filed in 2007 by the ACLU of Eastern Missouri on behalf of John Chasnoff.

In April 2007 Chasnoff sought the investigative records from the Police Department’s internal affairs investigation into tickets confiscated by police from alleged scalpers at a 2006 World Series game. It was later determined that some of the confiscated tickets were used by family and friends of police officers. Eight officers were disciplined, but no details of the investigation were released.

Judge Heagney ruled in January 2009 that Chasnoff was entitled to a copy of the complaint that gave rise to the investigation. Today’s ruling turned on whether the complaint alleged a criminal violation. Under Missouri’s open records law, investigation documents are open to the public where a complaint alleges criminal activity.