{"id":15064,"date":"2022-06-16T14:15:00","date_gmt":"2022-06-16T18:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aclu-md.org\/press-releases\/judge-denies-motion-dismiss-lawsuit-seeking-access-police-records-calvert-county\/"},"modified":"2022-06-16T14:15:00","modified_gmt":"2022-06-16T18:15:00","slug":"judge-denies-motion-dismiss-lawsuit-seeking-access-police-records-calvert-county","status":"publish","type":"press_release","link":"https:\/\/www.aclu-md.org\/press-releases\/judge-denies-motion-dismiss-lawsuit-seeking-access-police-records-calvert-county\/","title":{"rendered":"Judge Denies Motion to Dismiss Lawsuit Seeking Access Police Records in Calvert County"},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":""},"class_list":["post-15064","press_release","type-press_release","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":{"subheading":"Judge John Nugent recently denied an attempt by Calvert County Sheriff Mike Evans to have a lawsuit dismissed that seeks public records without onerous charges amounting more than $12,000.\n","date_and_time":"2022-06-16 14:15:00","featured_image":15066,"components":[{"acf_fc_layout":"text","text":{"text":"CALVERT COUNTY \u2013 Judge John Nugent recently denied an attempt by Calvert County Sheriff Mike Evans to have a lawsuit dismissed that seeks public records<\/a> without onerous charges amounting more than $12,000. In March, compelled by disturbing accounts from local residents about invasive police searches of Black people, and the Sheriff\u2019s demand of high fees to see documents related to the searches, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Maryland sued the Sheriff and his office in order to access this vital information that should be made public under Maryland\u2019s Public Information Act (MPIA).\n\nThe following quote can be attributed to Dara Johnson<\/a><\/strong>,<\/em> Legal Advocacy Coordinator for the ACLU of Maryland<\/strong>: \u201cWe look forward to continuing this action to ensure real access for communities to public information on police misconduct.\u201d\n\nThe ACLU contends that Sheriff Evans\u2019s use of burdensome fees to withhold public information that might reveal police misconduct is part of a troubling new statewide pattern, in response to Anton\u2019s Law \u2013 the 2021 law named for Eastern Shore teenager Anton Black<\/a> who was murdered in 2018 by an officer with a long record of past misconduct that was concealed by local officials. Anton\u2019s Law amended the Maryland Public Information Act to make records of policing complaints and discipline more transparent and available, to help guard against police abuse.\n\nIn July 2021 \u2013 prompted by complaints made to the ACLU about abusive and unconstitutional conduct by the Calvert Sheriff\u2019s Office \u2013 the organization requested documents related to strip searches and body cavity searches conducted by sheriff\u2019s personnel since 2017. Among the search records sought were any video and\/or audio recordings, including dashboard camera footage and\/or body camera footage, as well as field observation reports, criminal investigation\/case reports, arrest reports and charging documents.\n\nAs is the ACLU\u2019s standard practice in its work to advance civil rights, the organization\u2019s request sought a waiver of charges for the request under the MPIA provision governing requests made in the public interest. In response, the Sheriff\u2019s Office conceded that it does have documents responsive to the ACLU request, but rejected the request for waiver of fees despite the clear importance of this information to the public. The Sheriff\u2019s Office refuses to produce the public records unless the ACLU pays the full amount of fees it seeks to charge \u2013 starting at $12,000, at minimum.\n\nThe team involved in filing this legal action includes Adam Abelson, Justin Lewis, and D\u2019Ann Vermilye of Zuckerman Spaeder LLP, and Deborah Jeon<\/a>, Gina Elleby<\/a>, and Dara Johnson<\/a> of the ACLU of Maryland.\n\nLearn more about the case<\/a>\n\n###"}}],"use_default_media_contact":false,"name":"

Meredith Curtis Goode, ACLU-MD, media@aclu-md.org<\/a>, 443-310-9946<\/p>","email":"","phone":"","address":{"address_1":"","address_2":"","city":"","state":"","zip_code":"","country":"United States"},"pgp_public_key":"","spokesperson":null,"related_content":[15015],"issues":[5438,5433,5413],"toggle-pdf":true,"documents":null},"yoast_head":"\nJudge Denies Motion to Dismiss Lawsuit Seeking Access Police Records in Calvert County - ACLU of Maryland<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aclu-md.org\/press-releases\/judge-denies-motion-dismiss-lawsuit-seeking-access-police-records-calvert-county\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"es_ES\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Judge Denies Motion to Dismiss Lawsuit Seeking Access Police Records in Calvert County - ACLU of Maryland\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Judge John Nugent recently denied an attempt by Calvert County Sheriff Mike Evans to have a lawsuit dismissed that seeks public records without onerous charges amounting more than $12,000.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aclu-md.org\/press-releases\/judge-denies-motion-dismiss-lawsuit-seeking-access-police-records-calvert-county\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"ACLU of Maryland\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aclu-md.org\/app\/uploads\/2022\/06\/calvertco-pia-lawsuit-update-1538x768_0.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1538\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aclu-md.org\/press-releases\/judge-denies-motion-dismiss-lawsuit-seeking-access-police-records-calvert-county\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aclu-md.org\/press-releases\/judge-denies-motion-dismiss-lawsuit-seeking-access-police-records-calvert-county\/\",\"name\":\"Judge Denies Motion to Dismiss Lawsuit Seeking Access Police Records in Calvert County - 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