Minneapolis settles for nearly $400,000

The largest jurisdiction that hadn't already settled its claims in the lawsuit for illegal driver's license data accesses will pay out nearly $400,000 for the behavior, according to the Star-Tribune. The Minneapolis City Council approved its settlement offer on Nov. 2 bringing total taxpayer-funded payouts in the suit to more than $1 million dollars. Minneapolis' payout will be the largest paid by any individual jurisdiction in the suit.

Settlements in illegal data privacy violations to total over $665,000

According to the Star-Tribune, all jurisdictions except Minneapolis have reportedly reached settlements with Anne Marie Rasmussen in her lawsuit against Minnesota police for illegally accessing her driver's license photo and other data. The toll to taxpayers is now estimated at $665,000.

St. Paul poised to pay out $385,000 in taxpayer funds to pay for illegal driver's license accesses by 61 cops

MinnPost reports that the St. Paul City Council will vote on October 17 on a $385,000 payout to Anne Marie Rasmussen to settle claims that 61 of the city's police officers illegally accessed her driver's license photo and record. If approved, the payout will be made out of the city's own funds generated, of course, by taxpayers.

The payouts would address 226 separate accesses of Rasmussen's records by St. Paul cops or more than $1,700 per incident, which is less than the statutory minimum per incident of $2,500. At that rate, the city will be paying about $70,000 for more than 40 accesses by one officer, Candice Jones, alone.

According to the story, St. Paul police will not divulge information about disciplinary action, if any, taken against the officers. However, it's safe to assume that such discipline has not included, at least not yet, filing criminal charges against the officers as has already occurred in the case of two Minneapolis housing inspectors. If more than 40 violations aren't enough to warrant charges, it's difficult to imagine what it might take.

Amended Complaint Names 144 Cops as Defendants in Rasmusson Lawsuit; Two Minneapolis Officials Face Gross Misdemeanors

Anne Marie Rasmusson's attorney filed an amended complaint in federal court on Friday and probably ruined the weekend of more than 100 Minnesota cops in the process. The 186-page filing provides a wealth of additional detail obtained in the legal discovery process including the names of 144 law enforcement officers, their departmental affiliations, and in many cases, details about when they illegally accessed Rasmusson's driver's license photo and what disciplinary action (if any) has been taken against them.

The release of names while Rasmusson's attorneys are in settlement talks with the defendants is interesting in that it removes any prospect of individual defendants or their agencies of "buying anonymity" for the officers who have committed these offenses. At the same time, some agencies have made it clear how lightly they are treating the behavior at least for members of law enforcement. The Star-Tribune quotes a Minneapolis police spokesman as reporting that no Minneapolis officers have been disciplined for their actions:

A Minneapolis police spokesman, Sgt. Steve McCarty, said the department found that some officers had accessed the data inappropriately, but that no one was disciplined because they had no "ill intent." Officers were required to undergo coaching.

That's very interesting in light of the week's other developments in which two Minneapolis civil officials have been placed on administrative leave and are facing gross misdemeanor charges for the same behavior involving the same woman. The many St. Paul officers involved are reportedly receiving similarly insignificant wrist-slaps. Apparently, police internal affairs officers and prosecutors are experts in detecting "ill intent," and it appears to only happen when people are not cops.

Double standard, much? I suspect this is an issue that will receive considerable attention down the road as the attorneys for Minneapolis' director of housing inspections Tom Deegan and city housing inspector Michael Karney look into the "Pandora's box" that Minneapolis has opened by hanging two city officials out to dry while completely absolving dozens of cops of the same behavior.

TwinCities.com: "Ex-St. Paul police officer says other cops infringed on her private data, with little fear of discipline"

Another article with background on creepier aspects of police behavior related to use of driver's license data.

TwinCities.com: "Minneapolis: Retired cop: DVS was used against me"

A restraining order was filed on behalf of Anne Marie Rasmusson against a female Minneapolis cop.

TwinCities.com: "Former St. Paul cop sues 100 officers over accessing of her driver's license photo"

Anne Marie Rasmusson's suit is filed in federal court. Attached court filing provides lots of detail about accusations.

City Pages: "Is Anne Marie Rasmussen Too Hot To Have A Driver's License?"

City Pages posted the most thorough single story on Creepergate to date. This includes lots of detail on the perpetrators and the impact that the harassment has had on Ms. Rasmussen's life.