Strong Words, Weak Punishments For Police Officers Whose Failure to Follow Procedure Results in the Deaths of Human Beings in Police Custody

Two recent deaths of individuals in police custody—one in New Bedford and one in Lowell—were met with similar responses from the heads of the departments. First, the heads of the departments spoke out to condemn the actions of their police officers and recommend significant punishments. Later, the police departments announced they reached agreements with the police officers in which the officers would receive very short suspensions. Paying lip service to serious misconduct by police officers allows police misconduct to continue.

In the case of the death of Alyssa Brame in Lowell police custody, the incident was on video.

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Howard Friedman quoted in article about Seattle’s picking of former Boston police commissioner for police chief

Howard Friedman is quoted in this article from Real Change News. Seattle Mayor Ed Murray appointed Kathleen O’Toole to head the Seattle Police Department, asserting that she is a reformer because of her experience heading the Boston Police Department for two years. However, Howard Friedman says that during the time O’Toole ran the Boston department, no major improvements were made.

On the Way to Solitary, Women in Massachusetts Jail Get Strip Searched and Videotaped

Check out this article by Victoria Law on solitarywatch.com. The article describes the class action lawsuit we brought on behalf of women who were held at the Western Massachusetts Regional Women’s Correctional Center, which has a policy of permitting male guards to hold a video camera during some strip searches, allowing them to view and videotape strip searches of female prisoners. Our suit claims this violates the Fourth Amendment rights of the prisoners.

Lawyers rip officers over recording charge

Check out this article in the Boston Herald. Several civil rights attorneys, including our firm’s partner David Milton, are questioned about their thoughts on the latest case involving the Massachusetts Wiretap Statute and citizens’ right to record police officers. The Springfield police recently charged a woman with wiretapping, alleging that she secretly recorded her own arrest using her cell phone. This should not be a crime. Although secretly recording oral communications, even those of police officers, is illegal under the Massachusetts wiretap statute, state criminal laws cannot violate the federal Constitution. We hope that courts in Massachusetts, whether in this case or another, will explicitly rule that the First Amendment protects even secret recording of on-duty police officers.

This firm is experienced in handling cases involving the First Amendment right to record on-duty police officers in public spaces. Most notably, we represented Simon Glik, add: who was falsely arrested on Boston Common for videotaping police officers engaging in what he believed was police brutality. Mr. Glik’s civil rights lawsuit against the Boston police went to the First Circuit Court of Appeals and resulted in a landmark decision affirming the constitutional right to record the police. 

Our case alleges false arrest, illegal search, and excessive force by Bellingham Police

Check out this news story by Team 5 Investigates: Allegations of excessive force by police uncovered.

The investigative news team is covering an incident that happened to our client, Holly Graham, on October 6, 2012. Yesterday, we filed a civil rights lawsuit on behalf of Ms. Graham, alleging that two officers from Bellingham, Massachusetts, entered her home without a warrant and falsely arrested her using unreasonable force.

Click here to read the complaint we filed in federal court. Ms. Graham’s full video of this incident is available at http://youtu.be/6Z-qnPEKrkU.

Court hears arguments in our class action challenging prison policy that allows male guards to videotape strip searches of female prisoners

On April 22, 2014, in Federal Court in Springfield, Judge Michael A. Ponsor held a hearing on the parties’ motions for summary judgment in our case Baggett v. Ashe. Attorney David Milton spoke on behalf on the Plaintiffs, arguing that the Western Massachusetts Regional Women’s Correctional Center’s policy permitting male guards to videotape female prisoners during strip searches violates the Constitution as well as basic human dignity. Check out the news coverage of the hearing, below.

Editorial on Masslive.com: Videotaping strip search lawsuit points to a troubling inconsistency at Hampden County Sheriff's Department

How do we fix the police ‘testilying’ problem?

Check out this article in the Washington Post, which explains how common it is for police to lie on the stand. Police perjury undermines the integrity of the criminal justice system and has devastating effects on people’s liberty. Police lie in order to obtain convictions; their perjury results in wrongful incarcerations. Officers also lie in order to cover up other acts of police misconduct, such as illegal searches, discrimination, excessive force or brutality, false arrests, and other civil rights violations.

The author argues that the increasing prevalence of video evidence—from civilian’s cell phones as well as from cameras on police cars and police lapels—is forcing the courts to confront the fact that officers commit perjury. Video recordings can also make it easier for people to file successful complaints about police misconduct. Our firm handled the civil rights complaint of Simon Glik, who was charged with illegal wiretapping after using his cell phone to record police officers who appeared to be using excessive force. This case, Glik v. Cunniffe, went to the First Circuit Court of Appeals and resulted in a landmark decision affirming people’s right to openly record on-duty police officers in public spaces. The decision in our case noted that videotaping public officials is “a basic, vital, and well-established liberty safeguarded by the First Amendment.”

The Boston Police Department Took Its Time Investigating Civilian Complaints

Our clients have found that the Boston Police Department drags its feet when investigating civilians’ complaints of police abuse. This story in Boston Magazine confirms what we have seen is typical. Whether a civilian complains of being beaten, unlawfully arrested or just being treated rudely, the BPD will delay its investigation. Without swift investigations, police officers understand they are unlikely to be disciplined for misconduct against civilians. The police department should be concerned about violations of the law by police officers. We must all work to make this the reality.

Red flags missed, State Police let problem officers fester

Check out these news stories by FOX25. Howard Friedman is consulted regarding misconduct by State Police officers and the department’s appalling lack of discipline.

Boston News, Weather, Sports | FOX 25 | MyFoxBoston

Boston News, Weather, Sports | FOX 25 | MyFoxBoston

Lowell Police Superintendent recommends ‘historic’ discipline after investigation faults officers for woman’s death

Lowell Police Superintendent William Taylor plans to discipline the officers involved in the “inexcusable” death of 31-year-old Alyssa Brame.

View the news report by wcvb.com.

Click here to read an article about this investigation in the Boston Globe.

Our firm believes that disciplining these officers is the first step. Next, the department needs to supervise its police officers to make sure the policies are followed. The department must also defend their disciplinary decisions on appeal. Too often police departments announce discipline, but the discipline is later reversed on appeal.

Report: Suffolk County second in per capita exonerations

Check out this article in MA Lawyers Weekly, which explains how Suffolk County, Massachusetts, has the second-highest number of exonerations per capita in the country, according to the National Registry of Exonerations. The article reports that New Orleans County, Louisiana has the highest number of exonerations per capita. Exonerations are cases in which a person is convicted of a crime but is later found to have not committed the crime. The article mentions the exoneration of our client Charles Wilhite, who filed his civil lawsuit last week. The article also mentions one man whose case was dismissed after the Lowell drug informant scandal, in which an informant was found to have been planting evidence to secure convictions for the Lowell Police. Our firm is handling several civil rights cases involving the improper use of informants by the Lowell Police. Read about one of these cases in the Boston Globe.

Animal Rights “Terrorism” Law Should be Struck Down, Attorneys Argued

Today, Rachel Meeropol from the Center for Constitutional Rights argued at the First Circuit Court of Appeals that the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act is an unconstitutional infringement on free speech. We filed this lawsuit in December 2011 with co-counsel Alexander Reinert and attorneys from the Center for Constitutional Rights in New York.

The Center for Constitutional Rights released this video about the case:

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We filed a wrongful conviction suit against Springfield Police on behalf of our client Charles Wilhite

On January 29, 2014, we filed Charles Wilhite’s civil rights lawsuit against two Springfield police officers and the City of Springfield, alleging that the officers caused his wrongful conviction by fabricating evidence and threatening witnesses. Mr. Wilhite was convicted of first-degree murder in December 2010 as the shooter in a 2008 murder. Two witnesses recanted and said that they had only identified Mr. Wilhite because of police pressure. After spending more than three years in prison for a crime he did not commit, Mr. Wilhite was found not guilty at a second trial in January 2013.

Our complaint alleges that Mr. Wilhite’s wrongful conviction resulted from the grossly improper identification procedures used by the two officers, Defendants Anthony Pioggia and Steven Tatro, and from the City of Springfield’s policies, customs, and practices.

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Clearing the cops

Here is an interesting article about the failure of public officials to seriously investigate when Massachusetts police officers use deadly force and kill a civilian. The title, “Clearing the cops: Do district attorneys rubber-stamp police use of deadly force?” says it all. The failure of law enforcement to police itself leaves civil rights lawsuits as the only way to uncover police misconduct.

Howard Friedman speaks at MCLE seminar

On January 15, 2014, Howard Friedman spoke at a seminar for lawyers titled “Introduction to Section 1983 Civil Rights Litigation” put on by Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education, Inc. Howard spoke about drafting the complaint. The other presenters were Professor Karen Blum, Federal Magistrate Judge Judith Dein and defense attorney Leonard Kesten.

Why police brutality goes unpunished

Check out this article: The Horror Every Day: Why Police Brutality Goes Unpunished. The article investigates the Houston Police Department and discovers an all-too-familiar story of police brutality, officers’ anger at being filmed, and the department’s failure to discipline.

What happens when police lie?

Our firm encourages you to read this article on EastBayExpress.com, which sheds light on what happens when police lie. The article describes problems in the Oakland Police Department, but similar situations arise in departments in Massachusetts and across the country.

For police officers, lying is rarely a stand-alone offense. Officers usually lie to cover up other misconduct such as excessive force, false arrest, illegal searches, or planting evidence. Police officers who follow the Constitution, laws and police procedure do not feel compelled to lie.

Most police officers believe they can lie without facing negative consequences.

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Howard Friedman speaks to Boston Bar Association on state erroneous conviction statute

Howard was one of three panelists speaking on the state erroneous conviction statute at the Boston Bar Association on November 19. The other panelists were a current and former lawyer from the Attorney General’s office, which defends these cases. Howard presented the perspective of a lawyer representing innocent people who were convicted of crimes.

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Howard and David speak at a Suffolk Law School continuing education program

Howard Friedman and David Milton were among the speakers at a continuing education program at Suffolk Law School on November 8. The seminar was titled: “Policing in Trying Times: Law, Policy and Practice in a Post 9/11 World.” Howard commented on the qualified immunity defense, which is often used in an effort to defeat claims of victims of police misconduct, and on stop-and-frisk cases. David presented on the First Amendment right to record the police. The program was attended by individuals from law enforcement and by attorneys who represent law enforcement, as well as by people who represent victims of police misconduct.

Video revealed: our client’s daughter died in the custody of Lowell Police

WCVB.com produced this news story, which includes video of the death of Alyssa Brame in the Lowell Police Station on January 13, 2013. We represented Alyssa’s mother, Alice Swiridowsky-Muckle, in a public records request to obtain the video. Ms. Swiridowsky-Muckle is interviewed in the news report.

The Lowell Sun also published this article about this preventable tragedy: Mother of woman who died in Lowell jail cell furious over video.