ACLU Files Lawsuit Over Unlawful Sweep at Utah School Targeting Students of Color
Police Detained and Interrogated Students Based on Their Race And Ethnicity
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: (212) 549-2666; media@aclu.org
SALT LAKE CITY – The American Civil Liberties Union filed a class-action lawsuit against school and police officials today over a “gang sweep” in which students of color were detained, interrogated and falsely accused of participating in gang activity.
The complaint stems from a December 2010 incident during which between 14 and 40 West High School students of color were detained, interrogated, searched and forced to be photographed holding signs identifying them as gang members. Their personal information was entered into a “gang database,” making them subject to additional police scrutiny even though they did not commit a crime. All of the detained students were of Latino, African-American or Pacific Island descent, even though they make up only half of the student body.
“Schools should be a place where everyone can learn and grow, not a location where students of color are targeted and harassed,” said Courtney Bowie, senior staff attorney with the ACLU Racial Justice Program, which filed the complaint along with the ACLU of Utah. “Instead of policing our classrooms and criminalizing students of color, school and government officials must focus on educating our youth, and do that in an environment where everyone’s rights are respected.”
The case is part of a national pattern of criminalizing students of color, which often feeds into what has been called the school-to-prison-pipeline by experts and activists in the field of education. Just yesterday, the ACLU submitted a statement at a landmark hearing on the issue by a Senate committee, which pointed out that more than 70 percent of students referred to law enforcement from schools are African-American or Latino.
“At a time when Utah is working towards improving graduation rates for high school students, especially students of color, this type of police action sends a harmful message,” said John Mejia, legal director of the ACLU of Utah.
The complaint was filed by Kevin Winston on behalf of his son, Kaleb, who was a 14-year-old freshman when he was detained and searched without permission and not allowed to call his parents or leave the room. Kaleb’s information was recorded, and he was photographed holding a sign with the phrase “gang tagger” despite the fact that he has had no gang involvement. He suffered stress and humiliation as a result of the incident and temporarily left the school in order to avoid further harassment.
“I am bringing this case because I want to help make sure that what happened to me doesn’t happen to any other student,” said Kaleb, who is African-American and is now a 16-year-old junior at the high school.
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Utah against the Salt Lake City Police Department, Salt Lake County, the Metro Gang Unit of the Unified Police Department, the West Valley and West Jordan police departments, and Salt Lake City School District officials.
The complaint states that their actions violated the Fourth Amendment’s prohibition against unreasonable search and seizure; the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection clause, which prohibits discrimination, as well as the Utah Constitution and various state laws. The lawsuit also points out that the school had no legal justification to call the police unit to conduct the sweep.
For a copy of the complaint, go to:
For more information about the case, including a copy of the complaint:
Criminal Law Reform
+4 Issues
Winston v. Salt Lake City Police Department, et al.
Criminal Law Reform
+4 Issues
Winston v. Salt Lake City Police Department, et al.
Learn More About the Issues in This Press Release
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Press ReleaseDec 2024
Free Speech
National Security
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VirginiaDec 2024
National Security
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Our client, Nizar Trabelsi, is in the United States against his will. The federal government brought him here from Belgium more than a decade ago and charged him with terrorism-related crimes. At trial, the government’s case failed: a federal jury found Mr. Trabelsi not guilty. But instead of allowing Mr. Trabelsi to return to Belgium after his acquittal, the United States placed him in highly restrictive immigration detention and began an ongoing effort to force him to Tunisia, where he was born and where he will very likely be tortured. Mr. Trabelsi’s detention violates the Constitution, immigration law, and the extradition treaty between the United States and Belgium. Through this lawsuit, he seeks to return to Belgium, and he demands an immediate improvement of his detention conditions. -
Press ReleaseDec 2024
National Security
Immigrants' Rights
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ALEXANDRIA, Va. — This week, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia ruled that the court does not have jurisdiction to decide whether the government can continue to detain Nizar Trabelsi, a Tunisian national who was brought to the United States against his will for prosecution and was cleared of all charges last year. The ruling means the United States will be able to continue to detain Mr. Trabelsi while it attempts to deport him to Tunisia, where he was born and where, as an immigration judge ruled earlier this year, he will likely face torture. The court also concluded that even if it did have jurisdiction over Mr. Trabelsi’s case, his claims challenging the government’s detention of him would fail. “Reviewing claims that the government is holding someone unlawfully is at the core of the judicial function, and we’re heartbroken for our client that the court got this so wrong,” said Brett Max Kaufman, senior staff attorney with the ACLU’s Center for Democracy. “The government’s arguments in defense of Mr. Trabelsi’s detention makes a hash of the Constitution, immigration laws, and its own extradition treaty.” In 2013, the United States forcibly extradited Mr. Trabelsi from Belgium to face criminal charges in the United States. In July 2023, after almost 10 years of highly restrictive pretrial detention, a federal jury cleared Mr. Trabelsi of all charges. But instead of releasing Mr. Trabelsi or returning him to Belgium, the U.S. transferred him to immigration detention, wrongly treating him as an applicant for admission and placing him in the deportation process. Over the years, the Belgian government has issued multiple formal diplomatic requests asking the U.S. to facilitate his return, but the U.S. has refused to send him back. Mr. Trabelsi filed a lawsuit challenging the government's authority to detain him. He also sought immediate improvements to his detention conditions. Those claims were not part of the court’s ruling today, and will continue to be litigated on a separate track. “Mr. Trabelsi only wants to return to Belgium after being illegally extradited to the United States, held for ten years, and then acquitted by a jury of any crimes,” said Nicole Hallett, clinical professor of law and director of the Immigrants’ Rights Clinic at the University of Chicago Law School. “He cannot be held indefinitely and we will continue to fight to make sure that justice ultimately prevails.” Mr. Trabelsi is represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, the University of Chicago Law School’s Immigrants’ Rights Clinic, the ACLU of Virginia, and Professor Jonathan Hafetz of Seton Hall Law School. The complaint in Trabelsi v. Crawford was filed against Jeffrey Crawford, warden of the Farmville Detention Center where Mr. Trabelsi is being held; Liana Castano, ICE field office director for the Washington Field Office; Alejandro Mayorkas, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security; and Merrick Garland, U.S. attorney general.