Lawsuit claims state human rights agency can investigate police

The New York Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit Monday in state Supreme Court in Jefferson County arguing that the state Division of Human Rights (DHR) has jurisdiction to investigate abuse and discrimination complaints against corrections agencies and police departments in New York state.

DeAnna LeTray, a transgender woman who is a resident of Watertown filed a complaint with the state DHR over abuse and discrimination she allegedly experienced from the Watertown City Police Department and the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office.

The DHR rejected the complaint on the grounds that the agency dos not have jurisdiction to investigate because police and corrections agencies are not public accommodations.

The NYCLU lawsuit argues that DHR has both the power and the obligation to investigate discrimination complaints against local police and corrections agencies.

In September 2017 LeTray was arrested during a domestic dispute with her daughter’s boyfriend, who she says pointed a gun at her.

In the complaint to the DHR, LeTray alleged that the Watertown police who arrested her made disparaging remarks about her and questioned her gender identity.

At the police station, LeTray says she was forced to remove her wig against her will and was stripped naked and sexually assaulted.

The NYCLU lawsuit argues that police services are public accommodations because they are owned and operated by state and local governments and provide services to the public at large.

Likewise, the complaint claims, corrections agencies are housing accommodations because they operate and manage buildings, like jails, which serve as the sleeping place of human beings.

Federal courts in New York, as well as state courts in New Jersey and Michigan, have agreed that police services are public accommodations, covered by the Human Rights Law.