Civil Rights Leader Joins Lawsuit Alleging Violations of the U.S. and Missouri Constitutions in Kansas City Policing  

By National Urban League
Published12 AM EDT, Thu Sep 19, 2024
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Civil Rights Leader Joins Lawsuit, Alleging ‘Taxation Without Representation’ and Violations of the U.S. and Missouri Constitutions in Kansas City Policing  

Raises Claims on Behalf of all Kansas City Taxpayers, Particularly the 200,000 Minorities in Kansas City, Who Have Had a Diminished Voice in Police Governance for Generations 

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Following Civil Rights community conversations over recent weeks, long-time civil rights leader Gwendolyn Grant has filed pleadings to join the lawsuit between the Board of Police Commissioners and the City of Kansas City, arguing on behalf of the City’s taxpayers that the ‘Taxation Without Representation’ scheme maintained in the Police Board’s complaint and the current policing structure violates Missouri’s Hancock Amendment, and that the Board of Police Commissioners, with a history rooted in Missouri state control of communities exclusively with high African American representation, impermissibly diminishes the voting rights of African Americans, other ethnic minorities, and all Kansas Citians under the Equal Protection Clause. 

“Today, I filed a motion to intervene in the lawsuit filed by the Board of Police Commissioners in order to assert my constitutional rights as a Kansas City taxpayer and as an African American,” said Grant. “Enough is enough. Kansas Citians cannot be made to write a blank check to a Board that does not answer to us, is unrepresentative of our needs, and sues our elected officials when they don’t acquiesce to the Board’s every demand.” 

Specifically, Ms. Grant's filing claims the current structure of the Kansas City police department is:  ‘Taxation Without Representation:’ A Violation of the Hancock Amendment: 

The Hancock Amendment protects Missouri cities from being forced by state agencies to perform services, increase their scope of work, or allocate funds that they were not required to allocate before the Amendment took effect on December 4, 1980—unless the state provides that municipality additional funding to cover additional services the state is asking the city to perform.