Operation Rio Grande never received the American Civil Liberties Union of Utah’s stamp of approval and, after three days, looks to be ”business as usual,” according to a three-page statement released Wednesday by the civil-rights organization.
“In its current phase, this operation appears to rely on simply more of the same ineffective attempts to control the complex social issues of poverty, substance use disorder and mental illness through the same traditional mechanisms of our broken criminal justice system,” the statement read.
Nobody had suggested the ACLU was fully on board with the two-year plan to reduce lawlessness around Salt Lake City’s downtown shelter, but when asked about the effort’s constitutional soundness, leaders had repeatedly mentioned the inclusion of ACLU representatives in the planning process.