police misconduct

Last week, victims of civil rights abuses by police scored two victories in Massachusetts and New York. In Massachusetts, in Stamps v. Framingham, the federal First Circuit Court of Appeals held that a police officer who holds a loaded gun at the head of a non-threatening, compliant individual, with the gun’s safety off, cannot avoid civil liability for accidentally shooting and killing the individual. In New York, in Held v. Christian, a police officer agreed in a court settlement to pay $45,000 to an individual whose nude photos he stole after taking possession of her cell phone during a routine traffic stop.