Judge blocks release of additional records in Durango High altercation

A Las Vegas judge has denied the ACLU of Nevada’s request to obtain more public records from the Clark County School District related to an altercation between school police and students near Durango High School last year.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada sued the school district for the release of public records related to the incident. Following a court order, the school district released body-camera video of the incident in January, but the ACLU of Nevada continued to push for the release of an internal report detailing how police investigated the incident.

Video posted to social media in February 2023 appeared to show district police officer Lt. Jason Elfberg pushing a Black student onto the ground and putting a knee onto the student’s back. The student had been recording the arrest of other juveniles, the ACLU has said, and the district has stated the confrontation stemmed from an investigation into a report of a firearm near the school.

Body-camera footage released in January showed Elfberg detaining one student while another walks by, recording on his phone. Elfberg grabbed that student, pulled him to the ground and placed a knee on his back while yelling at nearby students to back up.

Athar Haseebullah, the executive director of the ACLU of Nevada, has previously said that the school district’s explanation that the incident stemmed from reports of a firearm was a “BS justification to stop and accost children.”

During Tuesday’s court hearing, District Judge Danielle Pieper said she “struggled” with her decision not to order the release of the internal report. She said she agreed with the ideals of the Nevada Public Records Act but noted that she wanted to stay consistent with her prior rulings.

“I know I would love for another court to give me guidance in regards to this,” Pieper said Tuesday.

In December, the judge ruled that the internal affairs investigative report into Elfberg’s actions was confidential, according to court records.

Attorney Jackie Nichols, who represents the school district, argued Tuesday that Elfberg hasn’t had access to the documents and that the ACLU could get the information in the report through the discovery process in a civil lawsuit.

Haseebullah said the ACLU does not want to access the information through a civil suit.

“That doesn’t do anything for the general public. That doesn’t give media access to the information that’s happening. That doesn’t give families a preview of what’s to happen in a public setting,” he said.

Haseebullah said the ACLU still has to determine if it will appeal the judge’s decision to the Supreme Court.

Attorneys for the organization have argued that records from the internal investigation could be redacted to obscure personal information. Haseebullah said he would also be interested in seeing fully redacted records, to determine how long the internal report is. He said the ACLU is particularly interested in witness statements and any voicemails the district may have received about the incident.

The judge on Tuesday also ordered the school district to pay the ACLU more than $36,000 in attorney fees. The school district already has spent nearly $46,000 on outside legal counsel in the lawsuit, the Review-Journal reported in January.

When asked about the attorney fees coming from taxpayer money, Haseebullah questioned why the district fought to prevent the release of the records in the first place.

“If they were to make less foolish decisions about litigating matters like these, and turn over public records, we wouldn’t have to litigate this period,” he told reporters following Tuesday’s hearing.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240.