What the DOJ Lawsuit Against Ferguson Alleges

By MIKE LEVINE
Feb 11, 2016, 4:18 PM ET

The city of Ferguson, Missouri, particularly its police force, has been under the national spotlight since August 2014, when an officer fatally shot unarmed teenager Michael Brown and sparked a national debate on race in America.

Now the city is feeling heat from the federal government like never before, with the Justice Department announcing Wednesday that it was filing a lawsuit in U.S. court and urging a federal judge to force the city to revamp its police department and court system.

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But exactly how has Ferguson violated those key constitutional amendments, in the Justice Department's view?

Here’s a quick look at some of what the 56-page lawsuit alleges:

FIRST AMENDMENT – Freedom of religion, speech and the press.

The lawsuit says Ferguson police officers "routinely prohibit people from recording police activity, and retaliate against those who do record.” In one instance from June 2014, a mother was arrested "ostensibly" for a traffic violation after she began videotaping her husband's arrest in front of their children and then continued to record from her car as the police vehicle drove off with her husband. &quot N)obody videotapes me," the officer insisted.

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