Long Beach Police Unfairly Target Gay Men, Class Action Says

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According to a class action lawsuit filed last week in California federal court, Long Beach police have been unfairly targeting gay men when conducting lewd conduct stings.

Plaintiff Rory Moroney filed the class action lawsuit against the City of Long Beach, Long Beach Police Chief Robert Luna and several other police officers from the police department’s vice unit.

He asserts that the vice unit engaged in discriminatory policing because it used only undercover male police in its sting operations to target male suspects who were seeking sex with other men. The police department reportedly did not use the same tactics against women.

Moroney asserts that the police force unlawfully discriminated against gay males and violated their right to equal protection under the law. He claims that the Long Beach police targeted areas that were believed to be frequented by men who were looking to meet, in public, other men interested in “non-monetary intimate association.”

The class action lawsuit accuses the Long Beach police of falsely arresting gay men they perceived to be looking to meet other men in public areas and falsely accusing them of criminal activity. Moroney claims that the Long Beach police targeted gay men on the basis of their gender and/or perceived sexual orientation.

He claims the Long Beach police violated the Equal Protection clause of the 14th Amendment by targeting and discriminating against gay men.

According to the lewd conduct sting class action lawsuit, Moroney was placed under arrest in October 2014 for exposing himself to an undercover police officer in a bathroom that reportedly has a reputation for “gay cruising.”

Moroney asserts that he was simply reacting to the undercover officer’s flirtation and that he believed the undercover officer was also “cruising” for men who were interested in hooking up.

In April, the Superior Court for the County of Long Beach ruled that the City of Long Beach violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment when Moroney was arrested.

All charges against Moroney were dismissed. He subsequently filed the class action lawsuit seeking to represent other gay males who were allegedly targeted and arrested because of the lewd conduct sting.

Class Members of the proposed Long Beach discrimination lawsuit include “all men who have been falsely arrested for soliciting or engaging in lewd conduct by Long Beach Police acting as decoys, because they are perceived to be interested in meeting in public, men interested in non-monetary intimate association with other men.” Moroney believes there are hundreds of men who may qualify as Class Members.

Moroney seeks an order declaring that the conduct of the Long Beach vice unit has violated Class Members’ constitutional rights to freedom of speech, expression and association; freedom from unlawful search and seizure; and their right to privacy and equal protection. He is also seeking monetary damages.

The plaintiff is represented by Bruce W. Nickerson and Audrey Stephanie Loftin.

The Long Beach Police Lewd Conduct Sting Class Action Lawsuit is Rory Moroney v. City of Long Beach, et al., Case No. 2:16-cv-04577, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.