Federal judge dismisses lawsuit targeting state’s St. Louis police board

A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit targeting aspects of a new law placing a gubernatorial board in charge of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department.

Last month, then-St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones’ administration and St. Louis Board of Aldermen President Megan Green filed a lawsuit contending that the new law stifled the First Amendment rights of city officials. They also said it was an unconstitutional unfunded mandate.

U.S. District Judge Matthew Schelp questioned why the case should be in federal court. Neither the city’s attorneys nor Green’s attorney, Chuck Hatfield, responded by a deadline. That prompted a scathing memo in which Schelp demanded to know if lawyers in the case violated federal rules of procedure.

Ultimately, Schelp wrote “the parties and their counsel timely responded to the Court’s show cause order and satisfactorily addressed the issues that concerned the court.” He added there won’t be any sanction issued in the matter before dismissing the case.

St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer took office a day after the suit was filed and said she was examining whether to bring a different lawsuit in state court. Before Schelp dismissed the case, she said her administration was taking the judge’s demands seriously.

“Obviously the lawsuit was filed before I was sworn in, and so I had nothing to do with the filing of it,” Spencer said on Friday. “This has fallen in our lap, and anytime a judge issues such a scathing and detailed directive — of course, we're taking it very, very seriously.”

Green has said she plans to continue the case against the state police board in court. Gov. Mike Kehoe will likely appoint members of the police board in the coming weeks.