Justice
Courts to Memphis: No, Spying on Protesters Is Not Good Police Work
A judge rejects the city of Memphis’s argument that an unpermitted protest is unlawful and therefore fair game for police surveillance.
For months now the city of Memphis has been arguing that the surveillance its police department has been conducting on protesters, namely Black Lives Matter activists, is “simply good police work” that doesn’t violate an agreement it signed 40 years ago stating it would stop such practices. A court responded late last Friday: Actually, no, your surveillance tactics are kinda bad.
An upcoming court trial will determine exactly how bad it is, and if it does, in fact, violate the 1978 consent decree agreement. Which means the burden has been significantly shifted to the city to prove that its spying on political protesters is a legitimate exercise of its police powers.