Law Professor Rachel Moran is quoted in a Sahan Journal article regarding undercover Minnesota officers who are suing the oversight board over leaked identities yet had public LinkedIns, discipline and shootings.
From the story:
A professional organization representing Minnesota police officers is suing a state licensing agency after the names of 257 undercover officers were disclosed to media outlets alongside other officers’ names. But research shows that all but three of them have been previously identified publicly, usually by themselves or their departments.
The police officers have LinkedIn profiles. They have photos posted by their agencies on Facebook or in press releases to celebrate promotions and drug busts. They testify in open court about their arrests. Some of them have been involved in high-profile uses of force, or have been sued for civil damages. ...
“It’s not the fact that this person by this name is a police officer that’s really the crux of whether they’re going to be effective undercover,” said University of St. Thomas law professor Rachel Moran. “If this were used to prevent disclosure of anyone who has ever been undercover, that’s very problematic. When you’re balancing privacy rights versus public interest, if you are framing it too heavily in favor of privacy that doesn’t really have a valid justification when you get down to the details – that’s where my concern comes in.”
