Appeals court reinstates Insane Clown Posse's lawsuit against the FBI
It looks like Insane Clown Posse and a handful of Juggalos will have their day in court after all.
On Thursday, a U.S. appeals court in Ohio resuscitated a lawsuit that the hip hop duo and four of their fans brought against the Department of Justice and FBI, Reuters reports. In 2011, the FBI's National Gang Intelligence Center released a report that identified Juggalos — Insane Clown Posse super fans who sport clown face makeup and rally around a logo of a hatchet man — as a "hybrid gang." Insane Clown Posse and the Juggalos (who are one million strong, according to ICP) say their constitutional rights have been violated because of this label, with court documents showing the four Juggalos claim they were stopped, detained, and questioned by local law enforcement in 2012 and 2013 and denied opportunities with the Army because of their Insane Clown Posse tattoos. Insane Clown Posse maintains that a 2012 performance was canceled because of the gang designation.
In 2014, the suit was dismissed by a district court in Detroit on grounds that the Juggalos did not show injuries suffered. Thursday's ruling reverses this decision, and orders that the case be considered, court documents say. So far, ICP's Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope have yet to comment — it's possible they are still ruminating on the magic of magnets.
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