Riverside, California - Frost Illustrated- The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California filed a federal lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Riverside on April 8, charging that the city of Moreno Valley and its police force, acting in conjunction with the California Board of Barbering and Cosmetology, conducted a series of racially-targeted, warrantless raids on barbershops owned and patronized by African Americans under the guise of licensing and code-enforcement inspections.

The ACLU and the Los Angeles law firm Seyfarth Shaw LLP filed the suit on behalf of Kevon Gordon, Ronald Jones and Raymond Barnes.

The barbers, all of whom are black, allege that the searches were conducted April 2, 2008, without their permission or a search warrant and violated their civil rights.

The suit names the city of Moreno Valley, its police department, Riverside County Sheriff Stan Sniff and Kristy Underwood, executive officer of the state Board of Barbering and Cosmetology.

“On April 2, 2008, five Moreno Valley police officers, carrying guns and wearing body armor, swarmed the Hair Shack, where Kevon Gordon has been in business for more than 20 years, with two city code officers and three inspectors from the Board of Barbering and Cosmetology,” ACLU attorney Peter Bibring said at a news conference April 8.

The suit alleges officers blocked the entrances, questioned employees and rummaged through the storefront business “in a manner more befitting a drug raid than a civil code and business license said inspection.”

“The Moreno Valley police unmistakably targeted these businesses because their owners and clientele are African American. There is no evidence of criminal activity at these locations and no reason that these once-thriving businesses were singled out other than racial profiling,” explained Bibring.

The suit recounts how Moreno Valley police officers, accompanied by city and state inspectors, burst into barbershops without warning last year. According to court papers the officers than carried out extensive searches unrelated to any potential health or code violations in a clear example of racial profiling. The barbershops, the suit said, housed legitimate, respected businesses that also served the African American community as social centers.

“They didn’t go into Super Cuts. They didn’t go into barbershops at the nearby Moreno Valley mall. They went to small obviously African American businesses with primarily African American employees and clientele,” said Bibring.

The suit claims the raid-style searches at the Hair Shack and Fades Unlimited, the two businesses named in the suit, entailed questioning of customers and extensive searches, but produced no evidence of any wrongdoing other than routine issues concerning maintenance and storage of barbering supplies and equipment. Court papers indicate the barbershops saw a steep decline in business following the searches.

Court documents claim five of the six barbershops MVPD selected as targets for the April 2 inspections were owned, operated and primarily frequented by African Americans.

The lawsuit charges Fades Unlimited had been subjected to two prior warrantless inspections by MVPD, once on their own and once in the company of one Code Enforcement officer.

“Officers treated my employees and customers like criminals simply because of the color of our skin. It was sickening,” Gordon said. “I have lost good customers and had my reputation called into question in a community where I’ve been working for 20 years. I wouldn’t wish this on anyone.”

Court documents say, “That day officers also targeted four other African American barbershops, including Fades Unlimited. At Fades Unlimited, officers went further in running criminal warrant checks on barbers and customers. When one barber objected to this treatment, an officer handcuffed him and detained him in a police car for 10 minutes before finally freeing him.”

“The Moreno Valley Police Department’s actions in this instance were unmerited, unlawful and have serious consequences for our clients and the community,” said Stacy D. Shartin, a partner at Seyfarth Shaw.

“Given the number of non African American ‘white owned’ barbershops in the area that the officers drove by in order to conduct raid after raid after raid raises a real concern that race played a strong role in determining which businesses were selected for inspection,” Shartin said.

Authorities inspected 16 Moreno Valley businesses over two days in April and discovered more than 180 business licensing and minor health violations.

“It’s hard to fathom that there is any relevant connection between a customer’s identity or whether they are on parole or probation or whether there is hair on the floor or dirty paper towels in the wrong place,” said Seyfarth Shaw cocounsel Rishi Puri. “Asking customers themselves questions shows the intent on violating the constitutional rights of innocent citizens.”

“It is demeaning and degrading to be targeted because of the color of my skin. I want this to stop,” said plaintiff Barnes who worked at Fades Unlimited.”

“I felt humiliated and violated. When we sought an explanation for these unlawful actions, we were ignored,” said Jones a veteran barber of 20 years, and third plaintiff in the suit.

Moreno Valley city officials including MVPD Police Chief Rick Hall steadfastly have defended the searches but declined comment on the ACLU lawsuit. Hall issued a statement following the April 2 raids saying officers received information from sources about drug sales and gang activity at some of the targeted shops. He declined to elaborate.

Sheriff Sniff was sued because Moreno Valley employs the Sheriff’s Department as its police force. He declined comment citing a policy of not discussing pending litigation.

Underwood, said “the state agency was not told Moreno Valley police were looking for criminal activity when they asked regulators to accompany them during the April 2 and15 raids.”

The lawsuit demands that both the Moreno Valley Police Department and the California Board of Barbering and Cosmetology adopt policies to protect against racial profiling, and limit the role of local law enforcement in administrative inspections intended to regulate business, health and city code violations.