Colorado ACLU Cases

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Legal Department Docket, 2002-Present

Case Name: In re Search of Amalia's Translation and Tax Service
Case Number: 2009-CV-100, District Court, Nineteenth Judicial District
ACLU Case Number: 2008-21

Description: In October, 2008, Weld County deputies searched the Greeley office of Amalia’s Translation and Tax Service, a tax preparation and translation service whose customers primarily come from the immigrant and Spanish-speaking community. The deputies took 49 file boxes containing the tax returns and related information pertaining to 4900 clients and dating as far back as 2000. They also took dozens of CDs and floppy disks and copied the hard drives of the business’s computers, which contained electronic copies of clients’ tax returns as well as confidential documents of customers who used the business’s translation service.

District Attorney Ken Buck announced the search was part of “Operation Number Games,” an investigation aimed at undocumented immigrants. After reviewing all 4900 files, Buck said that he was investigating hundreds for “criminal impersonation” or “identity theft”—for earning wages under a social security number that was fake or not their own. The tax preparer is not a suspect—the application for search warrant acknowledges that she was following IRS procedures and not violating any laws.

This case challenges the validity of the search warrant and the subsequent search and asserts that Weld County officials violated the right of privacy of thousands of innocent taxpayers who were not suspected of any wrongdoing.

The lawsuit seeks injunctive relief on behalf of the business owner and a class of tax-preparation clients whose records were seized and copied. As a remedy, the ACLU asks for an order that the District Attorney return all originals and destroy all copies and all compilations of confidential information obtained in the illegal search.

Issues: Right of privacy, Police practices, Rights of immigrants

ACLU of Colorado Attorneys: Reid Neureiter, Elizabeth Harris, Michael Glade, Shannon Lyons, Mark Silverstein, Taylor Pendergrass

Links to Selected Documents:

Court Documents

• ACLU Answer Brief, filed in Colorado Supreme Court in response to defendants' request to overturn ruling, Sept. 28, 2009

• AMICUS Brief, filed in Colorado Supreme Court by Mexican American Legal Defense Fund, on behalf of American GI Forum, League of United Latin American Citizens, and Colorado Immmigrant Rights Coalition, Sept. 28, 2009

• Transcript of Court Proceedings, Apr. 14, 2009

• Interim Order Pending Decision, Mar. 10, 2009
  

• ACLU reply brief, in support of class certification, Feb. 25, 2009
  

• ACLU reply brief, in support of motion for preliminary injunction, Feb. 25, 2009
  

• ACLU reply brief, in support of motion to proceed under pseudonyms, Feb. 25, 2009
  

• ACLU brief, seeking to certify class, Jan. 27, 2009
  

• Complaint, Jan. 26, 2009

• ACLU brief, seeking temporary restraining order and/or preliminary injunction, Jan. 26, 2009
  

• ACLU brief, Plaintiffs' motion to proceed under pseudonyms, Jan. 26, 2009
  

• Affidavit for Search Warrant, Exhibit A to Complaint, Oct. 16, 2008
  

• Search Warrant, Exhibit B to Complaint, Oct. 16, 2008

Press

• State's High Court To Review Weld County ACLU Case, AP, June 23, 2009
  
  
• "Judge Halts Investigation Into ID Theft in Colorado", New York Times, Apr. 13, 2009
  
  
• "Judge Puts Freeze on ID Theft Operation", Greeley Tribune, Mar. 11, 2009
  
  
• “ACLU files class action suit challenging search of Greeley tax preparer's office, ACLU News Release, Jan. 27, 2009