64 results for 'cat:"Constitution" AND cat:"Police Misconduct"'.
J. Coulson denies a former police officer’s estate’s motion for summary judgment seeking a ruling in their favor without a trial in this lawsuit brought by a retired police officer alleging violations of the United States Constitution, the Maryland Declaration of Rights, and Maryland common law. The retired officer alleges he was battered, falsely arrested with excessive and unreasonable force, and maliciously prosecuted by the decedent and fellow officers. The decedent alleged that the retired officer did in fact resist arrest and any reasonable jury could find it was excessive force during handcuffing. Therefore, the decedent is not entitled to qualified immunity, there are genuine disputes of material fact and adequate discovery needs to be developed. The estate may file another motion for summary judgment after the discovery is available.
Court: USDC Maryland, Judge: Coulson, Filed On: May 3, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv2379, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: constitution, Municipal Law, police Misconduct
J. Quattlebaum finds the lower court improperly denied the officer’s motion to dismiss based on qualified immunity. A repossession representative called the police after the vehicle's owner refused to get out so he could tow it. The owner argued that the deputy who arrived and ordered her out of the vehicle violated her Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable seizures of property by crossing the line from keeping the peace into actively participating. Because of the unique nature of the case and lack of case law, the deputy couldn't have known what he was doing was unconstitutional when he ordered her out of the car. Reversed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Quattlebaum , Filed On: May 2, 2024, Case #: 23-1344, Categories: constitution, Vehicle, police Misconduct
J. Cain denies summary judgment to four corrections officers on excessive force claims by an inmate who they say has a history of violent and defiant behaviors and expressing homicidal ideation. A prison video over his cell suggests he “may have taken one step for one second outside of his cell; it does not show that he was attempting an escape or that he completely walked out of his cell.” The video does not show what occurred inside Cell 13, nor is there audio to determine if the inmate was ordered back into his cell.
Court: USDC Western District of Louisiana , Judge: Cain, Filed On: April 18, 2024, Case #: 2:20cv1042, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: constitution, police Misconduct
J. Morgan refuses to dismiss for insufficient evidence conspiracy and excessive force claims filed by a black woman who stands 4-foot 8-inches tall and weighs less than 100 pounds. The woman claims that she was walking home after being attacked by teenagers when the deputy, who was responding to a 911 call about a fight, grabbed her by the hair, lifted her off the ground and slammed her to the ground. He remains on the force despite an alleged history of disciplinary infractions and public complaints of excessive force against minorities. She has sufficiently stated a “causal link” between the allegedly deliberately indifferent practices of the sheriff’s office and the deputy’s use of excessive force against her.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Morgan, Filed On: April 12, 2024, Case #: 2:22cv3332, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: constitution, Evidence, police Misconduct
J. Conley partially grants motions in limine from the police officer and the citizen in the latter's lawsuit claiming he was stopped and had his car searched without reasonable suspicion, was subjected to excessive force during his arrest and that false pretexts were used to secure a warrant to search his hotel room. The citizen's motion to bar the officer from introducing evidence of his five previous felony and misdemeanor convictions is partially granted, and the officer's lawyer is only allowed to ask him if he has been "convicted of five crimes punishable by imprisonment for more than one year," unless the citizen's answer opens the door to further inquiry. In part, the officer's motions are partially granted in that he can only inquire about the citizen's brother's past convictions in a similar way and the citizen is barred from making a "golden rule" argument asking the jurors to put themselves in his shoes.
Court: USDC Western District of Wisconsin, Judge: Conley, Filed On: April 8, 2024, Case #: 3:21cv65, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: constitution, police Misconduct
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Per curiam, the circuit finds the district court properly found in favor of the officers on qualified immunity grounds. Police responded to a call of a suspicious vehicle at an apartment complex to find an SUV parked with 2 occupants sleeping inside. A run of the tags revealed the SUV was stolen. Two officers fired at the vehicle after it suddenly backed into a cruiser, then moved forward, hitting a fence with significant force. Officers thought to have been behind the SUV when it moved were not in the line of sight of the officers who fired, and no clear right was violated by the officers. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: April 3, 2024, Case #: 22-10876, Categories: constitution, police Misconduct
J. Summerhays refuses to dismiss punitive damages claims by a police officer who alleges the police chief violated his First Amendment rights by retaliating against him for warning the public about criminal activity at a Knights of Columbus Hall, managed by the chief’s personal friends. The chief placed him under investigation for a department violation when the off-duty officer used his personal Facebook page to warn the public that there would be a shooting at the local KC Hall, which in fact occurred hours later. The officer’s allegations satisfy the requirements for penalty damages.
Court: USDC Western District of Louisiana , Judge: Summerhays, Filed On: March 28, 2024, Case #: 6:20cv1063, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: constitution, Damages, police Misconduct
J. Flanagan partially denies a police officer and municipality their motion to dismiss allegations of Fourth Amendment violations brought by a resident whom the officer grabbed in an attempt to pull her out of her home. The officer, standing just outside the threshold of the resident’s front door, repeatedly ordered her to step outside, twice grabbing her arm in an attempt to pull her outside although he had no warrant. His argument of suspicion is also insufficient, and, thus, he cannot use official immunity as a defense and neither can the city as his employer.
Court: USDC Eastern District of North Carolina, Judge: Flanagan, Filed On: March 27, 2024, Case #: 5:23cv207, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, constitution, police Misconduct
J. Doughty denies a request by a parish governing body to dismiss claims of vicarious liability for deliberate indifference to the medical needs of a pre-trial detainee, a former California resident who was moving cross-country in a U-Haul truck with a hired helper when the two men were arrested and jailed on narcotics allegations that were later dismissed. After a jail nurse recorded a high blood pressure rate requiring hospitalization, the litigant requested medical attention; however, he was allegedly strip-searched and placed in a holding cell for hours and ignored. The day of his release from jail, he allegedly collapsed in a hotel hallway from a stroke.
Court: USDC Western District of Louisiana , Judge: Doughty, Filed On: March 25, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv899, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, constitution, police Misconduct
J. Conley partially grants motions for summary judgment in the citizen's lawsuit against the police officers claiming unlawful search and seizure, illegal use of force, racial discrimination and other charges in connection with a traffic stop in which the citizen, who is Black and was on probation at the time, was pulled over after leaving a hotel known for illegal drug activity and had his car and hotel room searched, leading to drug and weapon possession charges against him. In part because genuine disputes of fact exist regarding whether the officer who originally pulled the citizen over had reasonable suspicion he had done anything illegal, that officer's motion for summary judgment is denied. Three other officers are granted summary judgment because they are entitled to qualified immunity, and two more officers are also awarded summary judgment because they were not involved enough in the citizen's claims.
Court: USDC Western District of Wisconsin, Judge: Conley, Filed On: March 15, 2024, Case #: 3:21cv65, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, constitution, police Misconduct
J. Foote, ruling on remand, denies summary judgment to Shreveport police officers on their argument a favorable Fifth Circuit opinion on alleged constitutional violations should foreclose state law claims by an elderly man who was allegedly bitten by a police dog during their search for a murder suspect. Although the Fifth Circuit's opinion forecloses the senior citizen’s pursuit of a state law excessive force claim, if “the arrest is unlawful then all force used to effectuate the arrest is excessive and constitutes a battery." It is undisputed the elderly litigant was an “innocent bystander who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Court: USDC Western District of Louisiana , Judge: Foote, Filed On: March 7, 2024, Case #: 5:19cv1261, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: constitution, Evidence, police Misconduct
J. Jensen denies a pro se litigant’s motion to disqualify the Illinois Attorney General’s Office and an Illinois assistant attorney general. The litigant claims an assistant attorney general conspired with law enforcement officials in 2017 to wrongfully arrest him, fabricate evidence against him and ensure his conviction in an underlying bogus criminal case. Though a court eventually vacated his conviction, this court finds the litigant has not sufficiently shown how the assistant attorney general acted unethically.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Jensen, Filed On: March 4, 2024, Case #: 3:22cv50041, NOS: Constitutionality of State Statutes - Other Suits, Categories: constitution, Malicious Prosecution, police Misconduct
J. Gibney grants the deputy's motion for judgment on unlawful arrest and illegal detention claims. Two brothers walked on a road near a courthouse when a police officer noticed them and approached them. The brothers, who were recording video at the time, told the officer that they were within their rights to be on the road filming and even went as far as telling the cop that as long as he did not violated their rights they would not hurt them. The officer had probable cause to arrest the pair because walking on the roadway is illegal.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Virginia, Judge: Gibney , Filed On: March 4, 2024, Case #: 3:21cv575, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, constitution, police Misconduct
J. Shah partially grants the Cook County sheriff’s motion to dismiss civil rights claims brought by a man who is a former county arrestee. Deputies arrested the man while he was on pre-trial release in another case, without a warrant or court order, after they decided he had strayed from his court-ordered electric monitoring area. He ended up serving two years in jail, and now brings charges against the sheriff’s office for Fourth and 14th Amendment violations. The court finds he has not sufficiently alleged his 14th Amendment claims, but his Fourth Amendment claims against unlawful seizure stand.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Shah, Filed On: March 1, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv1782, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, constitution, police Misconduct
J. Stewart finds the district court properly entered summary judgment in favor of the police officers. Armed protesters opposed to a city ordinance preventing unauthorized firearm carry were arrested after aggressively refusing to comply with officers' lawful orders. Though a Taser was used, causing one of the subjects to fall and hit his head, the officers are entitled to qualified immunity. The protesters have pointed to no clearly established law showing excessive force was used. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Stewart , Filed On: February 26, 2024, Case #: 22-50915, Categories: Civil Rights, constitution, police Misconduct
J. Diaz finds the lower court properly denied the correctional officers motion for summary judgement. The officer, accused of forcing an employee she mistook for a prisoner to strip search, is not entitled to qualified immunity because body cavity or strip search of a prison employee is reasonable only if officials have reasonable and individualized suspicion the employee is carrying contraband. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Diaz, Filed On: February 22, 2024, Case #: 21-1960, Categories: constitution, police Misconduct, Prisoners' Rights
J. Pulliam dismisses most claims in a lawsuit brought by a citizen against San Antonio and several police officers after the citizen was shot multiple times with sponge rounds during George Floyd protests in 2020. While the citizen’s claims overall do not survive qualified immunity, and he has “abandoned” some of them by failing to brief them, he can bring excessive force claims against the officer who shot him twice. Video footage of the scene “does not unambiguously support” the officer’s explanation for why he fired a second time, and the San Antonio Complaint and
Administrative Review Board found the citizen’s allegations about the second shot are “justified.”
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Pulliam, Filed On: February 20, 2024, Case #: 5:21cv837, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, constitution, police Misconduct
J. Cain grants a request by a rural parish sheriff dismissing all civil rights claims, including police excessive force, by a 60-year-old disabled woman with bone cancer. Her civil rights claims are barred under the doctrine of Heck v. Humphrey, which requires that damages for constitutional violations must be based on reversal or invalidation of the conviction. The woman received a four-year suspended prison sentence after pleading no-contest to a first-offense charge of illegal distribution of an anti-anxiety narcotic.
Court: USDC Western District of Louisiana , Judge: Cain, Filed On: February 16, 2024, Case #: 2:22cv5689, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: constitution, Damages, police Misconduct
J. Gettleman partially grants an Illinois village and its mayor’s motions to dismiss numerous civil rights allegations brought by a community activist. The activist claims the mayor had a personal vendetta against her after she led protests over the police killing of a community member, and that the mayor also took steps to chill village residents’ free speech rights — up to and including deploying police in riot gear on peaceful protestors. The court dismisses the activist’s claim that the village violated the first six articles of the Illinois Constitution, and also dismisses the possibility of Monell damages against the mayor specifically. The rest of the activist’s claims stand.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Gettleman, Filed On: February 14, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv5670, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, constitution, police Misconduct
J. Bell denies a group of police officers’ motion to dismiss claims of excessive force and constitutional violations brought by a bar customer who allegedly failed to pay a tab under $300. The officers arrested the customer, then allegedly dragged him out of a holding cell to a room without cameras and assaulted him, strapping him to a chair for two hours without seeking medical attention for his bleeding head wound. While the officers claim qualified immunity, the customer has sufficiently evidenced that they violated his constitutional rights, which were clearly established at the time of the assault.
Court: USDC Western District of North Carolina, Judge: Bell, Filed On: February 7, 2024, Case #: 5:22cv52, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: constitution, Assault, police Misconduct
J. Stadtmueller finds that the citizen may proceed with some of the constitutional claims in his pro se lawsuit against the police officers over a traffic stop that resulted in him being arrested and booked for being a felon in possession of a firearm. The citizen may proceed with Fourth and 14th Amendment claims in part alleging unlawful seizure of himself and his gun without probable cause, excessive force, and violation of due process by the police refusing to return his gun and passport, but the rest of his claims are dismissed. The citizen has until February 15, 2024, to file notice of whether he intends to serve the officers himself or use the U.S. Marshals Service.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Wisconsin, Judge: Stadtmueller, Filed On: February 1, 2024, Case #: 2:24cv18, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: constitution, police Misconduct
J. Griesbach grants summary judgment to the police officer in a lawsuit from a citizen claiming his Fourth and 14th Amendment rights were violated during his arrest for DUI, which included a blood draw he claims was performed without probable cause. The fact that the officer observed that the citizen, who had at least three prior DUI arrests, was unsteady on his feet and smelling of alcohol while trying to change a tire on a car he had apparently crashed into a tree gave probable cause for the arrest and blood draw, as did other evidence in the record. The officer is also entitled to qualified immunity, so her motion for summary judgment is granted and the case is dismissed.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Wisconsin, Judge: Griesbach, Filed On: January 30, 2024, Case #: 1:22cv684, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: constitution, police Misconduct
J. Smith finds the district court properly granted the police officers' motion to dismiss a mother's excessive force claims arising from the death of her son, who was killed after leading officers on a high-speed chase, then exiting his vehicle with a gun in his hands. Though the officers fired 19 times, hitting the deceased party 16 times, the use of force was justified. Body cam shows the deceased party exiting his vehicle with a gun and pointing it at one of the officers. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Smith, Filed On: January 16, 2024, Case #: 22-11210, Categories: Civil Rights, constitution, police Misconduct
J. Ayo refuses to dismiss a police lieutenant’s allegations a city and its police chief have refused to address his claims about pervasive corruption and police misconduct, including excessive force, neglecting inmates' medical needs and misusing funds. The lieutenant’s lawsuit is not an impermissible shotgun pleading, but a compelling complaint filed after two years of extensive discovery and multiple depositions.
Court: USDC Western District of Louisiana , Judge: Ayo, Filed On: December 29, 2023, Case #: 6:21cv1535, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: constitution, Defamation, police Misconduct