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.