A federal lawsuit aiming to strike down parts of a new law placing a gubernatorial board in charge of the St. Louis Police Department is likely dead — for now.
On her final day as mayor last week, Tishaura Jones filed a lawsuit challenging two parts of the Missouri law with St. Louis Board of Aldermen President Megan Green. The first provision prohibits officers of the city like Green from “impeding, obstructing, hindering, or interfering with the state board.” The other requires the city to spend a percentage of its budget on the department.
But U.S. District Judge Matthew Schelp wrote last week “a mere glance at the caption of this case is enough to raise a jurisdictional red flag,” adding that prior cases showed that neither “the City of St. Louis nor Green may sue Missouri unless they identify some waiver or abrogation of Missouri’s immunity for this specific action.”
Schlep gave the city and Green until Monday to show why the suit should not be dismissed — or to file an amended complaint addressing the lawsuit’s jurisdictional issues. Neither St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer’s office nor Green filed anything by Monday, which means the lawsuit is likely to be dismissed without prejudice — so it could be refiled in state or federal court.
In a statement, Spencer said: “While the two counts involved are interesting, the federal court determined the suit to be deficient. We are evaluating our options and weighing the merits of refiling a sound suit in state court.”
Yusuf Daneshyar, a spokesman for Green, said she “is committed to challenging the state’s takeover of our police department and plans to refile the lawsuit.”
“The President, in her official capacity, reached out to the City Counselor’s Office this afternoon to seek continued representation,” Daneshyar said. “If the City Counselor’s office is instructed by the Mayor to refrain from representing the President in her official capacity — in violation of the Charter — the President will seek outside counsel. She hopes the Mayor will reconsider and join her as a plaintiff so they can fight for residents rights together.”
Gov. Mike Kehoe is expected to name members of the St. Louis Board of Police Commissioners later this year.
