The city of Louisville reportedly is giving a Black couple $75,000 after the couple claimed the police pulled them over in 2018 and searched them solely because they were Black and driving in a nice car. The police reportedly stopped and frisked the couple without reasonable suspicion in front of their 9-year-old child. Despite the amount awarded, a stipulation of the award is that the couple will not be allowed to speak about it.

Reports noted Anthony Parker Sr. and Demetria Firman agreed “not to make or direct anyone to make any statements, written, or verbal with the intention to defame, disparage or in any way criticize the personal or business reputation, practices or conduct of Metro Government.” Along with that, the couple won’t be allowed to speak on the officers involved in the case,  as well as former Chief Steve Conrad.

A lawyer for the Courier-Journal spoke on the matter, saying, “The city is paying to silence its critics. It is paying them off. And it seems designed to impede reform. It is bad policy and really troubling.”

The first assistant County Attorney Ingrid Geiser went on to say the married duo “are not prohibited from talking truthfully about what happened during their traffic stop,"  and noted the wording “should have more accurately reflected the agreement of the parties.” It was noted the settlement forced the plaintiffs to agree that their ban from speaking on the matter includes any type of statement made on social media and to the news. A violation of the agreement would result in a “material breach,” and the Metro Government would be “irreparably harmed.”

source: Courier-Journal