Civil Law

Why Did You Choose To Practice Civil Rights Law? Why Is It Important To You?

When I was in high school, police misconduct was commonplace. On one occasion, a fellow student paid a high price for giving the finger to a police officer: he was chased down, tackled to the ground, and beaten. This was during the late 1960’s during the time Rueben Salazar, a Los Angeles Times Reported was killed at the Silver Dollar on August 29, 1969. Read More

Police Misconduct and Civil Rights Violations

While police misconduct is an issue in both the San Gabriel and Inland Empire, it is especially bad in Pomona. Cases often involve the use of excessive force and/or tampering or removal of exculpatory evidence.

As one example, a police officer beat an elderly woman and her husband during a domestic dispute call. In another case, a teenager by the name of Christian Aguilar was beaten at the Fairplex by the Pomona Police Department. The young man was requested to go to a police interview without an attorney which is a violation of the United States Constitution. It was later discovered that a tape of the incident was doctored to make it look the young man was the aggressor. Read More

Bringing a Civil Rights Case Against Law Enforcement

Often, people are apprehensive to reveal publicly that they were harmed by the police and would rather try to move on and avoid further harassment by the police. While there are laws prohibiting police officers from further victimizing a victim of police misconduct, it happens. This needs to stop, as there are enough problems as it is. Read More

Additional Information On Civil Rights Cases

When a Crime was Committed by the Plaintiff. It’s not uncommon for the victim of police misconduct to have committed a crime before or during the misconduct itself. This, however, does not justify the use of excessive force, which is an unconstitutional violation of the Fourth Amendment and civil rights laws.

A police officer’s job is to keep the peace and determine whether an arrest is justified; a police officer is not a judge nor a jury. Whether an individual can bring a civil rights lawsuit against a police officer if that individual is also guilty of a crime is determined on a case-by-case basis. Read More