Ludington Officials: Civil Rights Laws Need Not Apply Here

[XLFD]

Perhaps you wondered what the latest project the Ludington City Attorneys (a group nearly 60 strong) have spent their time on while being paid by your local tax dollars.  The City of Ludington Daily News (COLDNews) advised us this last Saturday that the city was going to pass a resolution regarding its intent to request federal legislative action to repeal the Civil Rights Attorney's Fees Awards Act of 1976. 

This resolution was in the city council packet they provided to area media, a resolution which was read at the meeting by Councilor Winczewski along with an introduction that wasn't provided in the packet which would have one believe that she thinks the law is oppressive to government units.  The resolution put at the forefront the Travis Malone case the city councilors settled for $15,000 just this last year. 

At the end of the first reading, some clarifications are made (such as the date for public comment would be on April 27, not May 4, and that the 'defendant' should be changed to 'plaintiff' in the last 'whereas' clause.  Apparently, the $205 per hour attorneys working on this resolution tried to cut some corners on proofreading to save the city some money. 

LCC april 13 from Mason County District Library on Vimeo.

You will also notice Councilor Winczewski thanked City Attorney Wilson for his work on this resolution (40:10 into the video), words that would probably fly into the face of what she is likely to have taught in school-- that civil rights laws of the 1960's and 1970's were fair and just methods devised by our government to make sure that poor, underprivileged, and discriminated-against folks would be able to get justice when they were denied their basic civil rights. 

None of the city officials present indicated any negative feelings towards the resolution.  At just about every meeting where they have went into closed session to discuss settlements with lawsuits directed at them, they come out with the same banter:  "We have no doubt that if we had went to court, we would have won, but decided that the best economical course is to hold our nose and settle, so we wouldn't potentially have our own high legal fees and the very low risk of the plaintiffs' fees."

Since the era of the Ludington Torch this mantra has been applied for the Jack Byers lawsuit, Joe McAdams lawsuit, Shelly Burns lawsuit, the Workplace Safety Policy lawsuit, the Open Meetings Act lawsuit I filed in 2012, and that Travis Malone suit, all of which we have looked at in detail at the Ludington Torch.

In each situation, the city or its officers seem to be at fault for violating the basic civil rights of one or more people, and even the one they showcase as frivolous was definitely not, when looked at from what both police reports and Malone's statements seem to indicate.  Two LPD cops on suspicion that a minor had been drinking, violated Malone's Fifth Amendment rights (and LPD search and seizure procedure) by assaulting him and taking his property, then further assaulting him above and beyond the call of duty. 

Correct procedure if they suspected he was a minor drinking was to have him be tested, they never offered him that option, they went to restrain, search his backpack, and then beat up a non-resisting minor.  If these two ruffians were not police, they would be facing major criminal charges, yet due to their privileges, they suffered naught other than the inconvenience of having to be deposed, and have the rest of us pay for their incompetence at their job.

We shouldn't like the City of Ludington having to pay off large settlements, just like the councilors don't.  But we should not believe that the cure is to change established civil rights laws; the cure is to change the way our government behaves towards its citizens, so these lawsuits need not ever be filed.  If city officials were following established procedures and laws, none of the aforementioned Ludington lawsuits would have ever been filed. 

It's really that simple-- and you don't have to change the playing field as the city council proposes to do in their insipid letter to the powers-that-be in Washington DC, a letter which will be summarily ignored for its worth.

[Willy]

Thanks for posting this information X.

This is amazing. The City is using taxpayer dollars to pay attorneys to find a way to side step the rights of the citizens who are paying for this nonsense. It's to bad none of the Council has any idea of what they are doing. I guess that's why the City hired a Manager. They needed someone who will do the thinking for them. When will the Council understand that the Manager, attorneys and other contracted employees are there to take care of the nuts and bolts regarding the City's functions and not there to dictate and control the City. Don't they realize that it's also their rights they are trying to eliminate. Foolish! 

 

[XLFD]

Undoubtedly they would do the same with public records requests after Councilor Holman's second call-to-arms tirade about the costs of supplying the public information in as many meetings.  For some reason, the City of Ludington is doubling down on fascism in 2015 in almost every respect, and they're doing it with a surprising amount of indifference from themselves and even their constituents.  There will be a tipping point reached-- indications are already out there, I sense more of the city is abuzz, and Undersheriff Hartley's involvement shows that there is more dissent than can be found at this humble website or at the meetings.

[Willy]

I forgot to mention Holeman. What can be said about Holeman? Is there a bigger idiot in the Ludington area or for that matter anywhere?