What Happens When A Cop Fabricates Evidence?
Saunders-El v. Rohde While I doubt there are a lot of cases like this out there, I did find this one really interesting. It addresses the following question. What liability exists for police officers and prosecutors when they fabricate evidence against a criminal defendant? I’ve attached a link above to the case that addresses this […]
Sixth Circuit holds telling your supervisor to stop sexually harassing you is protected activity.
A three panel bench of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals (the federal appellate court which covers Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, and Michigan) unanimously decided when an employee tells a supervisor to stop engaging in sexual harassment that employee is engaging in protected activity. Proving protected activity is the first step in establishing a retaliation claim […]
Crossing the “Thin Blue Line.” Does a cop have a First Amendment right to tell the truth?
I swear it happens on occasion. Police officers tell the truth. Sometimes. Sometimes they don’t testify inaccurately that your client was swerving in and out of his lane of traffic. Sometimes they admit your client’s license plate light actually was illuminated. Sometimes, they actually go to bat for your client and tell the truth, even […]
Don’t assume you have the right Defendant.
YOUR CONTENT GOES HERE. Coming to us right out of our own federal judicial circuit, the Sixth Circuit teaches some important practice tips in excessive force cases when the police conceal their identity. Directly at issue in Burley, et al v. Gagacki, et al, Nos. 14-2482/2542 (6th Cir., Aug. 22, 2016) was a question of […]
Police officer sues the police for unconstitutional “police sweep”…..and wins.
Police officer sues the police for unconstitutional “police sweep”…..and wins. Much of the chatter in some legal circles over the recent run of media coverage of police and citizen violence centers on the ability of police to commence encounters with citizens on an almost unfettered basis. From simply approaching a citizen to engage in casual […]
What can be done to change child custody after my divorce or custody agreement is final?
It is important to understand that the Kentucky Supreme Court decided in the landmark case of Pennington v. Marcum that there is a difference between asking to modify child custody and asking to modify visitation or parenting time. Custody refers to the ability to make major decisions and is usually categorized as joint, sole, split […]
Are states required to pay for sex reassignment surgery for inmates?
Maybe? A very interesting case arose out of the Ninth Circuit. A transgender inmate in the California prison system petitioned the prison to provide her with sex reassignment surgery. The petition was denied, and the prisoner filed a lawsuit under 42 U.S.C. 1983 alleging the denial of the surgery amounted to cruel and unusual punishment […]