Baltimore police are spreading “misinformation” in an attempt to trick people out of filing false-arrest lawsuits, the Maryland ACLU said Tuesday.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland sent a letter to the Baltimore Police Department on Tuesday saying the group is “alarmed” that individuals who have been arrested and released without charges are being misinformed about how to get those arrests expunged from their records.
“Our clients have been waiting for years to remove the stain of illegal arrests from their records, fearing that they will lose the chance to get good jobs and good places to live,” ACLU attorney David Rocah said.
“… But our clients? rights, and the rights of many other innocent people, have been violated once again because the Baltimore City Police Department is failing to comply with the law,” he said.
The ACLU demanded in writing that the police stop telling people seeking expungements that they must waive their rights to challenge an illegal arrest, despite the Oct. 1 change in the law eliminating the waiver provision.
About 44 people are arrested and released without charge every day in Baltimore ? more than 12,000 annually. Those arrests account for about 17 percent of all arrests made daily by Baltimore police.
Police spokesman Sterling Clifford said the department isn?t misleading anyone. He said those arrested after the law took effect Oct. 1 receive a new form that does not tell them they must waive their right to a false-arrest lawsuit.
