JEFFERSON CITY — Today, Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal (D-University City) released this statement regarding the records of arrests made by the Ferguson Police Department, which violated the constitution:

“The history of police and court abuses revealed by the Department of Justice in their report on Ferguson describes a system in which misconduct was not the exception, but the rule. The probe reveals numerous arrests and stops objectively proven to have no base in protocol, or even legality. For many citizens, these policies brought a series of additional legal consequences, which undermined their livelihoods. People have lost their jobs, their savings, and have been unable to provide for their families. Deprived of opportunities in education and the workforce, communities were kept in poverty, creating fertile ground for crime – this has perpetuated overzealous law enforcement, and the cycle continues.

It is my goal to move forward, and break that cycle. People still suffer under the continued burden of illegitimate sentences, which prevents the wounds of Ferguson from healing. Therefore, I am today calling for all records from all racially-motivated police stops in Ferguson to be expunged. There is already existing case law supporting this type of review – in 2009, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned hundreds of convictions found to be the result of corrupt practices, in an investigation stemming from U.S. v. Michael T. Conahan and Mark A. Ciavarella. I now request that Missouri’s higher courts take similar action, and set the record straight for the people of Ferguson. There can be no justification for continuing to hold citizens accountable for arrests that were never constitutional. If the City of Ferguson is truly committed to reforming themselves, then they will rid themselves of the remnants of criminal policies, and allow those victimized to move on."

For more information on Sen. Chappelle-Nadal’s legislative efforts, you visit her official Senate website at www.senate.mov.gov/chappelle-nadal