The Cities Blog

A touchy subject

U.S. District Court Judge Donovan Frank ruled Wednesday that two Minneapolis police officers illegally strip-searched Recardo Meeks during a traffic stop in 2009. In writing up the broadcast spots on the details of the incident, I bumped into some MPR News language standards. What you hear on the air is sanitary, but accurate.

I've posted the full ruling below so you can read all the not-appropriate-for-air details yourself.

Meeks.FedCt.GrantSumJudgment.pdf

Meeks' attorney Andrew Muller says it's possible the city will settle the suit before it goes to a jury trial scheduled for December. He says now that Frank has ruled that the officers' actions violated Meeks' civil rights, the next step is for a jury to decide how much harm was caused by the officer's actions. In a civil lawsuit, a jury can award monetary damages. City Attorney Susan Segal says she will not comment on the case because it is still in front of the court.