Wortham v. Dulacki

In this case, the ACLU asserts that the Denver Police Department (DPD) violated the Colorado Criminal Justice Records Act when it refused to disclose any documents from the file of its investigation of the African American clients’ complaints of racial profiling arising from a traffic stop in February, 2009.   

The DPD concluded the complaint was “not substantiated,” but a Denver County Court Judge who heard testimony about the incident reached the opposite conclusion.  After a bench trial, the court dismissed the minor traffic charges and wrote that: “Police conduct was extreme, profane and racially motivated.”   The court further found that the ACLU’s clients were “unlawfully detained for an unreasonable time and without reasonable suspicion.”

When Wortham and Campbell asked for the DPD’s investigation file, they were told that disclosure would be “contrary to the public interest.”   The lawsuit asserts that disclosure promotes the public interest.

“ACLU settles suit over Denver police complaint records," Westword Blog Post, June 4, 2010