FBI calls for dismissal of Insane Clown Posse lawsuit

The FBI wants a case brought against it by horrorcore rap duo Insane Clown Posse dismissed – on the grounds the group should have no right to sue.

Joseph Bruce and Joseph Utsler of the Michigan act filed a suit against the FBI in January, claiming the decision by the the US Justice Department and the FBI to classify their loyal fans – known as "Juggalos" – as members of "a loosely organised hybrid gang" was "unwarranted and unlawful" and had led to fans being harrassed. They were backed in the suit by the Michigan branch of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

“The Juggalos are fighting for the basic American right to freely express who they are, to gather and share their appreciation of music, and to discuss issues that are important to them without fear of being unfairly targeted and harassed by police,” Michael Steinberg of the Michigan ACLU said when the case was brought. “Branding hundreds of thousands of music fans as gang members based on the acts of a few individuals defies logic and violates our most cherished of constitutional rights.”

Lawyers for the federal government have now argued that the FBI should not be held responsible for how local law enforcement bodies have interpreted the FBI's 2011 report on gangs, which contained the assessment of the Juggalos.

Amy Powell, representing the FBI, told a court in Detroit: "There is no general right of protection to a social association," referring to the first amendment right to freedom of expression, which ICP claimed protected their fans. The FBI argues it did not label all Juggalos as members of a criminal gang, only a "subset" of them.