Dive Brief:
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The city of Chicago and the city of St. Paul, Minnesota, on Wednesday filed a lawsuit in the Northern District of Illinois seeking to prevent the U.S. Justice Department from imposing new grant conditions on the Community Oriented Policing Services Hiring Program.
- The lawsuit asks the court to declare illegal and restrain the Justice Department from enforcing new conditions requiring cities to certify they don’t use the grant funds to operate any programs with components related to diversity, equity and inclusion programs and that they comply with all presidential executive orders and immigration-related conditions.
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“Community policing is fundamental to building a safer city and upholding diversity is an essential part of who we are as a city,” Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said in a statement. “We will not back down from that commitment, and we will fight to ensure that we receive every single dollar that is entitled to Chicago.”
Dive Insight:
Congress has authorized and appropriated more than $21 billion to “increase efficacy of community policing by enhancing cooperation between law enforcement agencies and communities they serve” through COPS grants since the mid-1990s, the lawsuit states.
In March, Congress allocated more than $417 million in COPS grants. In October, the Chicago Police Department received $6.25 million to pay for the salaries and benefits of 50 officers, and the St. Paul Police Department received $85,502 to support its Downtown Homelessness Initiative.
The DOJ’s new grant conditions bar local governments from limiting information-sharing with federal immigration authorities, conflicting with Chicago’s Welcoming City ordinance and St. Paul’s separation ordinance. The lawsuit argues this violates the Tenth Amendment, which prohibits the federal government from requiring local governments to govern according to Congress’ instructions.
The DOJ is also requiring grantees to forgo any diversity, equity and inclusion programs that federal officials have deemed unlawful and to comply with all current and future presidential executive orders and memoranda. In addition, the new conditions prohibit use of grant funds for “directly or indirectly” supporting educational institutions that require students receive COVID-19 vaccinations or promote gender ideology and projects that advance DEI and environmental justice programs, as well as entities that fail to protect public monuments.
The lawsuit alleges these conditions violate the U.S. Constitution’s Spending Clause, Separation of Powers and the Administrative Procedure Act.
“Congress appropriated these funds to strengthen community policing by enhancing cooperation between law enforcement agencies and the communities they serve,” Chicago Corporation Counsel Mary Richardson-Lowry said in a statement. “Our cities have long relied on COPS Grants to support vital public safety functions.”
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
