What we are seeing, and what to do about it
Shorter than the guide pages and written for the moment you are in: a stop last night, charges dismissed this morning, a family member at Rikers, a headline about a new Supreme Court decision. Every post links to the page with the full rule and the citation behind it.
Recent writing
What is a false arrest case worth? The honest answer
Everyone asks. Nobody who answers on the first call is telling you the truth. Here are the seven things that actually move the number.
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Zorn v. Linton, explained: what "beyond debate" means for your case
The Supreme Court did not say the wristlock was lawful. It said no earlier case put the question beyond debate. That difference is the whole doctrine.
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The 90-day mistake
The criminal case takes a year. The notice of claim is due in 90 days. Those two facts are how a sound case loses its state-law claims.
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Can I sue ICE?
Not under Section 1983, and rarely under Bivens. The real routes are the Federal Tort Claims Act, and the local jail that held you for ICE.
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How to get the body camera footage
Ask in writing, ask early, and ask twice: once to get the footage and once to make sure nobody deletes it.
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What $117 million tells you, and what it does not
The City paid $117 million on NYPD lawsuits last year, by the Legal Aid Society's count. Divide it by the number of cases and you get a figure that describes nobody.
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Someone you love is at Rikers: what families should know
A federal court now has its own manager inside the City's jails. That is not the same as someone looking after your son. Here is what you can do from the outside.
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The Florida cap veto: what stays the same, and what the cap never touched
The bill passed 104 to 7 and 36 to 0, and the Governor vetoed it anyway. Florida's caps on state-law claims stay where they were. The federal claim was never under them.
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Charges dismissed. Now what?
The dismissal ends one case and starts the clock on another. One deadline began today. Another has been running since your arraignment.
Read →Looking for what changed in the law?
The news page is the running record: every Supreme Court decision, statute, veto and data release since 2018 that changes a police abuse case, newest first, each linked to the page it affects.
Tell us what happened.
One conversation with an attorney, in your language. We tell you which claims the facts support, which deadline runs first for the agency involved, what evidence to preserve this week, and whether a pending criminal case changes the timing. If it is not a case we can take, we say so and tell you where to go.
(718) 484-7510If a criminal charge is still open, talk to your defense lawyer before you describe the arrest to anyone, including us. English, Russian and Spanish in-house; an interpreter for any other language. Contingency fee, confirmed in writing before we begin.