Police Brutality

We have been involved in numerous police misconduct and brutality matters. Below is a summary of an article written on this topic which you may find informative.The problems posed by the illegal exercise of police power are an ongoing reality for individuals of a disfavored race, class, or sexual orientation. Most litigation in this area of the law has been processed in the federal courts under a federal statute 42 United States Code l983 because, at least until now, that court has shown a relative sensitivity to civil rights claims. The assertion of a civil right should be understood to be an inherent part of progressive social change in a democracy. On the one side we have the police who are responsible for maintaining and enforcing the existing social and economic order, and on the other side are those who challenge police authority. The courts are the final arbitrer to determine through the jury system whether in fact the alleged conduct amounts to an abuse of a civil right. Thus each time a police officer uses excessive force, makes an illegal search or seizure, suppresses free speech, or participates in other unconstitutional acts, that officer is impairing the individuals right and at the same time is thwarting legitimate societal change. Historically, racial minorities, especially blacks, have been the victims of police brutality. Since the middle of the l9th century a dominant white society maintained race discrimination through a police force ready and willing to use violence against those in the minority. This violence expressed itself in the years immediately after the civil war through, at the extreme, lynchings, to harrassment in various forms. It was in response to the continued denial of civil rights of blacks that Civil Rights legislation was first passed in the U S Congress. Commenting on this legislation the Supreme Court in Owen v. City of Independence Mo. 445 U S 622 said: "The central aim of the Civil Rights Act was to provide protection to those persons wronged by the "misuse of power, possessed by virtue of state law and made posssible only because the wrongdoer is clothed with the authority of state law." It is not easy to file, prepare and try a civil rights case, but it is important in a progressive representative democracy that such actions be pursued for several reasons. First the direct victims can gain money damages as compensation for the wrongdoing which they have endured. Equally important police misconduct litigation informs the public of individual acts of police abuse which would go unnoticed absent such litigation. Further the evidence presented in such cases establishes that the alleged act of bruality is not an unusual or rare event, but in fact is an institutionalized police practice often repeated against innocent persons. In the last analysis it is society that benefits the most from this litigation as police misconduct is brought out in the open, exposed to public censure and review.

Police Brutality - Part II

We have been involved in numerous police misconduct and brutality matters. Below is a summary of an article written on this topic which you may find informative.

For information on this topic, please consult:

http://www.civilrights.com/police.html and http://www.civilrights.com/civilrights.html