In 1998, the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ) conducted an investigation of the Columbus Division of Police (CDP). As a result of the investigation, the DOJ determined that CDP officers were engaged in a pattern or practice of using excessive force, making false arrests and lodging false charges, and conducting improper searches and seizures in violation of the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments. On October 21, 1999, the DOJ filed a complaint against the City of Columbus, Ohio pursuant to the Law Enforcement Misconduct Statute, 42 U.S.C. § 14111, in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio to remedy an alleged pattern or practice of unconstitutional misconduct by officers of the CDP. The case was assigned to Judge John D. Holschuh and Magistrate Judge Norah M. King.
Contemporaneously with the filing of the DOJ's complaint, the DOJ filed a motion to stay the proceedings so that the parties could explore settlement. Judge King entered a stay, which expired on December 20, 1999, without the parties reaching a settlement.
On October 25, 1999, the Fraternal Order of Police, Capital City Lodge No. 9 ("FOP") filed a motion to intervene as a defendant in the action. Judge King granted the FOP's motion to intervene on February 7, 2000.
The City then moved to dismiss the case, and the FOP moved for a judgment on the pleadings. In those motions, the defendants noted that no court had yet interpreted or applied the language of 42 U.S.C. § 14141. The defendants maintained that §14141 was an unconstitutional enactment, outside Congress' authority pursuant to § 5 of the 14th Amendment and in violation of the Tenth Amendment. The defendants further argued that § 14141 must be construed to incorporate the 42 U.S.C. § 1983 cases for determining municipal liability. The defendants argued that the DOJ's complaint was therefore deficient because it failed to plead facts that the City caused, or was deliberately indifferent to, the pattern or practice of CDP officer misconduct as alleged in the complaint.
The DOJ filed a brief responding to the constitutional challenge to 42 U.S.C. § 14141. The DOJ also argued that the language of § 14141 imposed vicarious liability on the City for the acts of its officers. The DOJ argued that the § 1983 standards of municipal liability were not applicable to § 14141 cases, and therefore the complaint properly stated a cause of action.
On April 26, 2000, Judge Holschuh referred the dispositive motions to Magistrate Judge Norah M. King for a report and recommendation. She issued her report in August, finding that 42 U.S.C. § 14141 was constitutional. She construed § 14141 to require the same level of proof as is required against municipal entities in actions under § 1983, as set forth in
Monell v. Department of Social Services of the City of New York, 436 U.S. 658, 691 (1978) and its progeny.
In response to the Judge King’s report, U.S. Representatives John Conyers, Jr., the ranking minority member of the House Judiciary Committee, and other representatives moved for leave to participate as amici curiae. Representative Conyers was an original cosponsor of the Police Accountability Act - legislation that contained the language that ultimately was embodied in 42 U.S.C. § 14141. As grounds for their participation, the representatives stated that their interest was to correct the Judge King’s interpretation of § 14141 as imposing § 1983's "policy or custom" test for determining municipal liability that they believed was a misapplication of the statute.
The Grand Lodge of FOP, the national police officer labor organization, also filed an amicus motion, taking positions supportive of those taken by the City and the local FOP.
On November 20, 2000, Judge Holschuh granted the motions for leave to participate as amici curiae, and amicus briefs were then filed. After an extended round of additional briefing, there was a lengthy period of case inactivity while settlement negotiations continued.
On September 4, 2002, Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman submitted a settlement proposal to the DOJ that outlined various reforms the CPD agreed to make in exchange for the dismissal of the DOJ's complaint without prejudice.
In the settlement proposal, Mayor Coleman listed their ongoing efforts to remedy the alleged issues through:
- The expansion of the staffing and scope of responsibility of the Internal Affairs Bureau implemented in July 2001. This included specialized training and community outreach programs to publicize and explain the new citizen complaint process;
- The expansion of the definition of actions that constitute a use of force, enhanced reporting of all uses of force and adoption of a use of force continuum;
- Heightened commitment to prevent racial profiling including specialized training as well as an implementation of regular, periodic reviews;
- Passing of Ordinance 1475-01 by Columbus City Council on September 24, 2001, to specifically include racial profiling as a criminal offense;
- Installation of video and audio recorders in police cruisers; and
- Agreement to provide copies of relevant Division of Police documents to the Department of Justice through the end of 2003.
The DOJ found the efforts satisfactory and agreed to end the litigation. On September 4, 2002, Judge Holschuh granted the DOJ's motion to dismiss the case without prejudice.
The case is now closed.
Dan Dalton - 01/04/2007
Jake Parker - 07/12/2018
Averyn Lee - 03/10/2019
compress summary
