Legal
Colorado ACLU Cases

Legal Department Docket, 2002-Present

Case Name: Unis v. Crouch
Case Number: 02-M-0337, United States District Court, District of Colorado
ACLU Case Number: 2001-06

Description: This lawsuit charges that on August 19, 2000, agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Pueblo Police Department violated the constitutional rights of a Pueblo family by conducting an illegal SWAT-type raid on the family’s home with no warrant or other legal authority. Although no drugs or contraband were found, the law enforcement officers carted off the family’s two college-aged sons and imprisoned them illegally for two days before releasing them without charges.

Issues: Police practices; right of privacy

ACLU of Colorado Attorneys: J. Gregory Whitehair, Mark Silverstein

Links to Selected Documents:

ACLU News Release, February 20, 2002, “ACLU Sues DEA, CBI for Illegal Armed Home Invasion, False Imprisonment”

Second Amended Complaint, filed July 29, 2002

"Pueblo Family Obtains $230,000 in Settlement of Civil Rights Claims Against City of Pueblo, State of Colorado and U.S. Government," ACLU News Release, Aug. 29, 2005

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