Back in June, the ACLU of Massachusetts sued the SWAT team agency North Eastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council (NEMLEC).
They want the records connected to its SWAT team.
NEMLEC, a group of 58 police and sheriff departments in Middlesex and Essex counties, receives government grants and taxpayers' dollars to purchase high-tech equipment, and oversees several operational units. One of these units, the SWAT team, uses armored vehicles, automatic weapons, and combat gear to carry out military-style operations, such as forced entries and high-risk arrests.
Well, it's a freaking SWAT team. Just ask for the records, there's no need to sue.
NEMLEC operates as a regional law enforcement unit, yet when the ACLU of Massachusetts requested records from NEMLEC, the agency responded that it is a private, non-profit organization, wholly exempt from public records laws.
The wind was knocked out of me when I read that. We all know that the movement to privatize everything is out of hand and tests the boundaries of fascism
but this is outrageous.
The North Eastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council — or NEMLEC — filed its motion to dismiss the suit in state Superior Court in Boston on Friday, when the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts also filed its response asking the court to deny the motion and allow its suit to go forward.
[...]
In asking the court to dismiss the lawsuit on Friday, NEMLEC said it is immune from the disclosure requirements of the Public Records Law because it is not among the types of entities covered by the law. The law names only entities created by the state and its political subdivisions, such as cities and towns, NEMLEC said.
The ACLU responded with what can only be termed "logic":
“That claim is wrong,” the Civil Liberties Union responded in its motion asking the Suffolk Superior Court to keep the suit alive. “Controlled by an executive board of police chiefs and substantially funded by taxpayer dollars, NEMLEC possesses equipment and conducts operations that are lawful only when possessed or conducted by public entities. The police officers who participate in NEMLEC operations do so under the color of law, with the full privileges and immunities of a law enforcement agency.”
The Civil Liberties Union added that, although NEMLEC is structured as a non-profit corporation, it functions “with all the privileges and immunities afforded to law enforcement agencies, such as entering homes by force and without consent, investigating and arresting individuals, serving warrants and using lethal weapons.”
To paraphrase the ACLU, you can't have it both ways.