Media Contact

Meredith Curtis, ACLU of Maryland, curtis@aclu-md.org

January 30, 2013

BALTIMORE - In December 2012, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Maryland filed suit under the Maryland Public Information Act on behalf of 11 individuals charging that Anne Arundel County Executive John Leopold improperly directed the police department to collect and retain information on Leopold's perceived political rivals, and that the County was improperly refusing to release that information when requested by individuals who had reason to believe they were targeted. The lawsuit, filed against Leopold as well as the County Executive's Office and the County Police Department, asks the Circuit Court of Anne Arundel County to declare the compilation of Leopold's "enemy files" to be unlawful, and order that all responsive records be produced.

Regarding the ruling today in Leopold's criminal trial, the following can be attributed to Deborah Jeon, Legal Director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland: 

"County Executive Leopold has been found guilty of two counts of misconduct in office, including misuse of his security detail for political purposes. That issue is at the core of the ACLU lawsuit on behalf of 11 individuals who have cause to believe they may have been caught up in Leopold's political dragnet. Unless the County now comes clean -- revealing to the public exactly what happened in this case, and disclosing to the targeted individuals any materials that were compiled on them - the stain of Mr. Leopold's misconduct will spread to the County as well." 

Click here for more information on this case.