National Police Accuntability Project Holds CLE at NLG Convention in Philadelphia

by David Milton

The NLG’s National Police Accountability Project (NPAP) held an all-day CLE at the Guild convention in Philadelphia on October 13, 2011.  More than 100 lawyers from around the country attended this year’s program, called “Developments in Police Misconduct Litigation: Staying ahead of the Curve.” The day featured numerous speakers who provided legal analysis, practice pointers, overviews of social science, and personal anecdotes relevant to this difficult but rewarding area of practice.

Professor Karen Blum of Suffolk Law School began the day with a presentation called “Implications of Iqbal,” the landmark 2009 Supreme Court case Ashcroft v. Iqbal. That case toughened pleading standards for plaintiffs in civil cases and narrowed the scope of supervisory liability in at least some types of civil rights cases. With her trademark blend of case cites and humor, Professor Blum described how lower courts are applying Iqbal. Courts have been all over the map, and Professor Blum highlighted some helpful cases and arguments for Plaintiffs.

Next came a panel called “Eyewitness Misidentification: Best vs. Actual Practices.”  Toni Gustus, a rape victim whose misidentification of her attacker led to an innocent man’s serving more than a decade in prison, told her emotional story. She explained the many ways in which coercion by the police, of which she was largely unaware while it was happening, led to this terrible miscarriage of justice. Debi Cornwall, who represented the wrongly convicted man in his civil rights suit, described the police practices in this case as a textbook example of how not to get a reliable identification. She explained the various legal theories available to plaintiffs in these cases. Marissa Boyers Bluestine of the Pennsylvania Innocence Project gave an overview of the social science research and best practices on witness identification.

After lunch, a magistrate judge, defense attorney, and plaintiff’s attorney discussed mediation. Magistrate Judge Felipe Restrepo of the Eastern District of Philadelphia explained what works, and what doesn’t, at settlement conferences, and he confirmed that judges all talk to one another about the lawyers who appear before them. Carlton Johnson, former Chief Deputy City Solicitor of the Civil Rights Unit for the City of Philadelphia, described how he valued civil rights claims. Jonathan Feinberg, a civil rights lawyer in Philadelphia, gave practical advice to plaintiffs’ lawyers, like the importance of managing client expectations.

David Rudovsky, who along with Karen Blum and Michael Avery literally wrote the book on police misconduct litigation (the indispensible Police Misconduct Law and Litigation), analyzed recent trends in Section 1983 litigation. He covered recent Supreme Court and Court of Appeals cases on such topics as qualified immunity, standing, municipal liability, and substantive Fourth Amendment law. While the news was generally grim, Rudovsky suggested some ways plaintiffs’ lawyers can get around some of the obstacles that courts have thrown in their path.

The day ended with a panel called “Ask the Experienced Civil Rights Lawyer,” featuring Rudovsky, Cornwall, Bill Goodman, and David Robinson. This Q&A generated a lively discussion among the panel and the audience about the political context of our work as civil rights lawyers, and what role attorneys should play in social movements such as the “Occupy” protests.

In addition to its annual CLE at the Guild convention, NPAP hosts CLEs in cities around the country throughout the year.

David Milton is a member of NPAP of the NLG and a member of the Guild.

The Boston chapter of NPAP meets every few months to discuss recent cases, litigation strategies, policing trends, and other aspects of our practice.  Anyone with an interest in fighting police misconduct is welcome to attend.

Contact Howard Friedman at
hfriedman@civil-rights-law.com
to receive notices of the meetings.