A federal judge says Grand Rapids has an unconstitutional policy of arresting people on private property without hint of criminal behavior.
Judge Paul Maloney on Wednesday said evidence against the police department is "overwhelming." Grand Rapids doesn't dispute that police routinely asked business owners to sign no-trespass letters. Officers then arrested people without warning, even if a business didn't call to complain.
Miriam Aukerman of the American Civil Liberties Union says one of the plaintiffs had been inside a business but was later arrested for trespassing while in the parking lot.
Aukerman says the policy has affected hundreds of people. She says police have run "roughshod over the Bill of Rights." She says blacks are more likely to be arrested than whites.
There was no immediate comment from Grand Rapids, Michigan's second-largest city.
Judge: Grand Rapids trespassing arrest policy is illegal
