Filed

The ACLU of Nevada filed for a writ of mandamus in a Clark County court in order to force the Clark County School District to release records that the civil rights nonprofit is entitled to.

A writ of mandamus is a legal action meant to compel a government actor to follow the law. The case is ACLU of Nevada v. Clark County School District, Case No. A-23-869216-W.

In February, Durango High School students were attacked by CCSD police for recording officers in the community. Video of the incident captured by a bystander has been shared widely throughout Nevada — including before the Legislature — but despite persistent requests from the news media and others, the school district continues to stonewall the release of public records related to the incident such as body-worn camera footage and incident reports. Even the ACLU of Nevada, which is representing two teenagers who were attacked in the incident, has been denied the records.

In March, the ACLUNV announced it was giving the school district 30 days to comply with the law or the nonprofit would file legal action. CCSD has failed to produce the records for the teenagers’ attorneys.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada filed a lawsuit against Fremont Street Experience, LLC, and the city of Las Vegas in order to protect First Amendments rights on this important public forum. Fremont Street remains a public street.

The case is Gordon v. City of Las Vegas, Case No. 2:22-cv-01446-RFB-EJY.

The ACLU of Nevada has been pushing back against policies that favor the speech of Fremont Street Experience while placing unconstitutional limits on the speech of all others. Most recently, Fremont Street Experience and the city of Las Vegas have gone to extremes in undercutting First Amendment protections by restricting adults aged 18 to 21 from entering the public forum via a special permit for an unadvertised and fictitious event created solely to create “an illusion of a valid time, place, and manner restriction, despite the fact that this curfew flies in the face of the Constitution and doesn’t satisfy any level of scrutiny,” according to the complaint. The ACLUNV is not challenging the existing curfew in the city of Las Vegas for people under 18.

The organization’s clients in the case include a street performer and two 18-year-olds who have had their First Amendment rights violated by Fremont Street Experience and the city of Las Vegas. 

The American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada filed this case on behalf of eleven individuals whose constitutional rights were violated by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and the Rio Hotel.

On August 19, 2018, our plaintiffs were having a birthday celebration at the Rio Hotel. Each of the 34 guests in attendance that evening is Black. LVMPD, aided by Rio staff, stormed in with no warrant and no reason to believe that any crime was being committed. Despite having no reasonable suspicion, LVMPD officers handcuffed and searched every single guest in attendance. Each guest was made to sit in the hallway of the Rio handcuffed with no access to food, water, or restroom facilities for up to 6 hours. LVMPD alleged that the birthday party was a “gang party,” but no guest was arrested for any criminal gang activity.

We’re suing to end LVMPD’s racially discriminatory practice of indiscriminately and unlawfully detaining and searching individuals in violation of the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments.