Darren O’Connor, a Boulder-based lawyer and member of NAACP Boulder County, filed a lawsuit in Boulder County District Court on Thursday, June 1, alleging the Boulder City Council “exceeded their jurisdiction or abused their discretion” when it voted to remove a member from the volunteer-led Police Oversight Panel earlier this year.
Councilmembers removed Lisa Sweeney-Miran, the director of a homeless shelter, following a determination from a special counsel that she was not adequately vetted for her bias against police by a selection committee. The lawsuit is asking the judge to declare that the city council “acted arbitrarily, capriciously, in violation of the law” and to “compel” the defendants to reinstate Sweeney-Miran to the panel.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Jude Landsman, a vice president with the NAACP Boulder County and a member of the selection committee that nominated six new members to the panel earlier this year. It also names the City of Boulder as a defendant. It does not name individual councilmembers.
The Police Oversight Panel has been a source of controversy for months in Boulder. Read our ongoing coverage here.
Correction: A previous version of this story said the lawsuit was filed in county court. It was filed in district court.