This lawsuit, filed against Denver Manager of Safety Al LaCabe and the City and County of Denver, seeks disclosure of the policy and procedure manual for the downtown city jail, known as the Pre-Arraignment Detention Facility or PADF. The Manager of Safety refused to produce the manual under Colorado open records laws based on the ground that disclosure would be “contrary to the public interest.”
The ACLU argues that disclosure of the PADF manual is in the public interest, noting the chronic problems with overcrowding and understaffing at the PADF, repeated instances of innocent parties being arrested and detained at the PADF in cases of mistaken identity, and a history of egregious delays in processing arrestees and failing to release arrestees long after they have posted bond.
The ACLU argues the public interest in disclosure of the PADF manual is especially strong in light of the upcoming Democratic National Convention and Denver's stated policy of making full custodial arrests (instead of issuing citations) when protesters commit minor offenses. Large numbers of arrests could overload the system and cause excessive backlogs in processing, and serious problems with access to food, medicine, attorneys, sanitary facilities, and delivery of medical care to vulnerable detainees, as occurred in New York City in connection with the Republican National Convention in 2004.
This lawsuit was resolved when Denver agreed to disclose the jail's policy and procedures manual.
ACLU News Releases:
- "ACLU sues Denver for disclosure of City jail policies and procedures in advance of Democratic National Convention," ACLU News Release, May 19, 2008
- "ACLU announces settlement of recently filed lawsuit; Denver agrees to disclose jail policies and procedures manual," ACLU News Release, June 18, 2008
Media:
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“Denver to turn over its jail manual after lawsuit,” The Denver Post, June 18, 2008
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“ACLU to get Denver manual on arrests,” The Denver Post, June 18, 2008
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“Denver settles lawsuit with ACLU,” The Denver Post, June 18, 2008
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“Lawsuit helps DNC protestors,” 9 News, June 18, 2008
ACLU case number
2008-09