Kansas City police stop ‘banishing’ protesters from parts of city after lawsuit: ACLU

Luke Nozicka
·2 min read

Kansas City police have ended their use of “banishment orders” as the result of a lawsuit brought last year by a protester who was prohibited from participating in future demonstrations, the ACLU of Missouri said Wednesday.

The lawsuit was filed in October on behalf of Theresa Taylor, who was arrested for ordinance violations during a June 2020 protest against police brutality at the Country Club Plaza. When she was released, officers told her she would be arrested and held without bail if she returned to the Plaza, according to her attorneys with the ACLU and MacArthur Justice Center.

Many others were similarly threatened with banishment from parts of the city as residents protested George Floyd’s murder and other issues, a practice Taylor’s attorneys called “clearly unconstitutional.”

The lawsuit was filed against the Board of Police Commissioners, which sets policies for the Kansas City Police Department.

As part of the settlement, the police department agreed to pay $8,000 to the ACLU of Missouri’s foundation and $250 to Taylor.

The force is required to direct detention officers to not impose bond conditions beyond ones from a judge or prosecutor. Officers who have not received anti-bias or de-escalation training will also do so within three years, according to the settlement.

In Taylor’s situation, officers did not like the criticism they faced and “responded by abusing their authority,” said Tony Rothert, legal director of the ACLU of Missouri.

At the time of her arrest, Taylor was not told what she was being charged with, her lawsuit said. While she was being held, officers made rude comments to her and other protesters, she said.

One officer, for example, allegedly asked if the detained protesters had seen the TV channel Animal Planet because the demonstrators “looked like meerkats peering out” of their cells.

Though Taylor’s municipal charges were later dismissed, the banishment order remained in place, her lawyers alleged. A resident of the metro area, she avoided other local protests because of it, they said.

“Now more than ever we must safeguard the right to protest from police overreach and violence — especially where protests are about the police themselves,” said Amy Breihan, co-director at MacArthur Justice Center.

The police department, which did not immediately comment on the settlement, did not admit liability.

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