At E. Stewart Jones Hacker Murphy, we have a team of attorneys, led by Attorney James Knox, dedicated to Civil Rights law. This team focuses on suing to recover for violations of clients' rights by various law enforcement entities. Attorneys Julie Nociolo and Alishah Bhimani play key roles in the firm's civil rights division under Knox's leadership.
We have handled matters involving the violations of clients’ rights by the New York State prison system, local jails, sheriffs, city police, town police, village police, and the New York state police. Our firm has successfully recovered money for our clients in numerous cases we have brought as a result of violations of our client’s constitutional rights.
The United States Constitution guarantees that in our country, we all may expect to be secure in our persons – meaning in our own bodies – against “unreasonable searches and seizures.”
When police use excessive force, and “seize” or arrest a person by beating them, kicking or striking them unnecessarily, or by shooting, tasing or pepper spraying a person without justification, they can be sued for damages they cause, even though they are acting in the course of their duties.
Don’t misunderstand us. We appreciate and support the men and women of law enforcement. But no matter how good the majority of officers are, they cannot erase the actions of those officers who use their position and their power to hurt and harm citizens in violation of their constitutional rights.
In the era of body worn cameras, jailhouse and police station surveillance systems, and dashcams, it has been established that, even while knowing they are being recorded, some officers will sill ignore the constitution and strike and beat unarmed people.
These actions can cause serious injuries. While we have represented many people who were lucky enough to only suffer bruises as a result of excessive force, we have also represented numerous people who have suffered broken bones, disfigurement, injured joints, permanent paralysis and even death at the hands of law enforcement.
Just because someone has a badge, doesn’t mean they have the right to hurt you. Even if you were injured in the course of an arrest for an offense that is legitimately charged, you always have the right to be treated reasonably by police. Only by holding police accountable to the Constitution, can we expect to see improvements in our police forces. If you've suffered injuries due to police actions, seek compensation and exercise your rights.
Your rights matter, and we're here to help. Contact us, experienced civil rights attorneys, immediately if you've been harmed by unreasonable police actions.