Last week, in Kent v Oakland County, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision finding that police officers could not be shielded from a civil rights lawsuit by a victim of excessive police force involving in a taser.
Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a rare glimmer of hope in a case called Rodriguez v. United States. In the case, the court held that police cannot extend a routine traffic stop to use a drug dog to sniff a stopped vehicle for drugs.
In light of the shortcomings of the legal system and growing police violence against people, there are many ways that communities can help each other to defend their rights to be free from unlawful searches, seizures, and cruel and inhumane treatment by law enforcement officers.
In light of the recent Supreme Court case that came out a couple weeks ago that found that GPS tracking constitutes a search under the Fourth Amendment, and therefore requires a warrant we wanted to go over your rights to protect your data if you end up in a situation where you record police misconduct on your phone.
Amid the seemingly never-ending news of police shootings and killings of unarmed civilians, there is a rising public demand for more police accountability. To placate this growing demand, a few months ago, Congress passed a new version of the Death in Custody Reporting Act, 42 U.S.C. 13727. This law, which is a revised version of a law that has been on the books for over a decade, requires state and federal law enforcement agencies to report how many people are killed by their police officers.
The roughly 100 page report on police practices in Ferguson, MO details numerous ways in which the police department and court system in Ferguson have violated and continue to violate the U.S. Constitution.
Two police officers with the Eugene Police Department confronted environmental activist Josh Schlossberg as he handed out flyers and information to interested passers-by on the public sidewalk in front of the Umpqua Bank. Mr. Schlossberg was providing information on the negative impacts of some of the business investments of the Bank on the local forests. After one of the officers decided everything was in order, an EPD sergeant with a history of questionable actions against activists and others, investigated Mr. Schlossberg's public activities again.
Copwatchers are on the lookout for police brutality at all times, not just when a demonstration or protest is taking place. However, the goals of decreasing police brutality and keeping cops accountable for their actions against citizens are the same. They also practice careful documentation of any incidents.
Civil Liberties Defense Center case filed on behalf of Mark Kemp.
On Monday, January 23rd, a federal jury ruled that Sergeant Solesbee used excessive force in an arrest of environmental activist Josh Schlossberg. The CLDC has been working tirelessly for years on Schlossberg's case and is pleased with the verdict. We hope that this case will be a precedent in protecting the rights of activists to film police officers.
