A man who says a Charlottesville Police DNA dragnet violated his constitutional rights may be joined by other victims in a class-action suit.
Larry Monroe of Charlottesville was one of 190 black men approached for a DNA sample as police attempted to catch a serial rapist. During the investigation, from late 2003 to April 2004, 160 men provided saliva samples and 30 refused.
Monroe’s attorney, Deborah C. Wyatt, says many men felt they couldn’t refuse the request for a DNA sample. “They didn’t feel free to say no,” she says.
Wyatt claims that one man, after refusing to give a sample, was promptly arrested for being drunk in public, and then swabbed. “You say no and then things happen,” she says.
Monroe’s suit was originally dismissed from Circuit Court in 2004, but is now moving through motions in U.S. District Court. Judge Norman K. Moon is currently deliberating whether to allow other plaintiffs to join in a class action.
The suit names the City of Charlottesville, Police Chief Timothy J. Longo and Detective James Mooney. It says men who were DNA swabbed were denied equal protection and were targeted because of race. It also claims that the dragnet amounted to an unreasonable search and seizure. Wyatt says officers approached men on the street and at their places of employment, with little regard for privacy, and often targeted men who did not match the rapist’s physical profile.
Cases like this are well suited to class-action suits, Wyatt says, because additional defendants will be spared expense, and there’s a consistent ruling for all victims. In this case, each plaintiff would seek $15,000 from the City.
Longo called off the dragnet, which was criticized as “racial profiling” by many, in April, 2004 Police were subsequently required to conduct preliminary investigations before swabbing, and inform people of their right to refuse when approached. None of the collected samples matched the rapist’s DNA, and he remains at large.
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