Feds to ICP: Drop lawsuit; we never labeled fans as gang members Gang members, or misunderstood rap fans? That’s what a federal judge will soon decide about the “Juggalos” — fans of Detroit music duo Insane Clown Posse, which claims the FBI is giving its fans a bad rap by labeling them as dangerous gang members. The FBI says it has only labeled a “subset” of the Juggalos as gang members — not the entire fan base — and wants a judge to dismiss a lawsuit alleging that the gang-designation is causing ICP to lose fans and violates the freedom of expression rights of Juggalos. U.S. District Judge Robert Cleland today said he will issue a decision in two to three weeks in a lawsuit that has pitted the FBI’s rights to investigate gangs against the rights of music fans to express themselves freely without fear of retaliation. At issue is a 2011 FBI report in which the agency classified Juggalos as a “hybrid” criminal gang. After the report came out, ICP objected and filed a lawsuit, claiming its fan base was dwindling and that fans nationwide were getting investigated and unlawfully detained. “They’re doing what we really admire ... these guys are standing up for not only the things that have happened to them, but to a million other fans,” Miller Canfield attorney Saura Sahu, who is representing ICP, said in court today. According to Sahu, the FBI is trampling on the rights of music fans to express themselves. For example, Juggalos often express their affinity for ICP by painting their faces to look like clowns and displaying the “hatchetman” logo and other ICP insignia on their clothing, jewelry, body art and bumper stickers. “The government went too far here,” Sahu said of the gang classification. “Those are First Amendment protected symbols.” But the government isn’t labeling all Juggalos as gang members, nor does the FBI report have any real legal impact on anyone, countered government attorney Amy Powell, who urged Cleyland to dismiss the suit. It does not conclude that all Juggalos are members of a gang — just a certain subset of Juggalos,” said Powell, who said she believes the government has a legitimate interest in gathering information about gang activity. The FBI’s job is to investigate gang activity, Powell said, arguing the 2011 report was a justifiable investigative and reporting tool for law enforcement. She also argued that a newer, 2013 FBI gang report doesn’t include the Juggalos. But the American Civil Liberties Union, which is helping represent the plaintiffs, said it believes the government crossed the line with its 2011 report. “The Juggalos are fighting for the basic American right to freely express who they are, to gather and share their appreciation of music, and to discuss issues that are important to them without fear of being unfairly targeted and harassed by police,” ACLU of Michigan Legal Director Michael J. Steinberg previously stated. “Branding hundreds of thousands of music fans as gang members based on the acts of a few individuals defies logic and violates our most cherished of constitutional rights.” In 2012, ICP’s attorneys and their record label, Psychopathic Records, filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the FBI to obtain records the federal government used to justify designating Juggalos as a criminal gang. When those documents were ultimately released, ICP claims, they contained nothing that would warrant labeling all Juggalos as a criminal gang. ~ Tresa Baldas, Detroit Free Press
Posted on: Tue, 24 Jun 2014 14:10:22 +0000