St. Paul, Minn, - The American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota submitted a statement and will testify in support of the repeal of two low level ordinances in Minneapolis, Lurking and Spitting. The ACLU-MN argues that the two ordinances are unnecessary for public safety, and lead to racial profiling by the Minneapolis Police Department.
The Minneapolis Lurking ordinance states "No person, in any public or private place, shall lurk, lie in wait or be concealed with intent to commit any crime or unlawful act." The two city council members leading the repeal are Councilmember Cam Gordon and Councilmember Blong Yang.
Other organizations that support the repeal of lurking include: The Coalition for Critical Change, Neighborhoods Organizing for Change and Black Lives Matter.
The letter focuses on the repeal of the lurking ordinance because the ACLU-MN believes that it is unconstitutionally vague and leaves too much room for officer discretion which can lead to racial profiling.
Below is a short excerpt from the statement that was submitted to the Minneapolis City Council on May 6, 2015. It can be attributed to Teresa Nelson, Legal Director of the ACLU-MN.
The ACLU American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota supports the repeal of Minneapolis Ordinances 385.80 (Lurking) and 213.30 (Spitting; depositing tobacco) because we believe that these ordinances have served to increase racial disparities in policing in Minneapolis. Statistics on who is arrested for Lurking in Minneapolis demonstrate this disparity.
The fact that the overwhelming majority of lurking arrests do not result in a conviction illustrates how vague and over broad the ordinance really is.
The Lurking ordinance is likely unconstitutional and susceptible to discriminatory and arbitrary enforcement by police. It is time for this ordinance to be repealed and for the police to focus their attention on actual crimes and attempted crimes rather than on people who merely look suspicious or undesirable. We respectfully request that you repeal the Lurking and the Spitting ordinance.