The Fourth Amendment and Excessive Force

I spend a lot of time reading and writing, and have come to enjoy the medium of audiobooks. It is so easy to digest new information as I ride in the car, watch the ball game, or sit by the fire. Most recently I have enjoyed reading the history of our country in the excellent 1619 project which is a New York Times bestseller. I encourage you to get it and learn. Even though I attended Morehouse College and Howard University School of Law, reviewing the revisions to history by newly discovered material add so much precision to our understanding of where we are today. Recently the New York Times reveal 1,700 members of Congress were slave holders, so no wonder the laws they passed set us on a path to struggle.

You cannot imagine how life was in this country when your family, descendant’s of slavery were not even considered a citizen of the United States. From Africans accidental landing here in 1619, until the passage of the 14th amendment to the United States Constitution in the late 1860’s, post-civil war, your people weren’t even recognized with any inalienable rights. We have struggled to make this country better, and must continue the fight.

Benjamin Crump has written a book about all the abuses suffered upon blacks by law enforcement who use excessive force consistently.  As you know, use of force is not evenly distributed along racial lines. Although we make up 14% of the population, more than 30% of people killed by police are black. My office is handling  cases where the police have used excessive force against my clients. Some have been killed by the federal government, and others have been victims of excessive force in seizure of their property. Did you know that if the police shoot your dog this maybe an unreasonable seizure and unconstitutional! Remember the 4th amendment to the constitution protects people from unreasonable search and seizures. You may have an action against the government if your constitutional rights have been violated. But pursing justice is never easy. 42 U.S.C. 1983 protects against state actors, and the Bivens decisions applies this to federal officials.

The courts understand that police have a difficult job and make split decisions while enforcing the law.  We need the police to enforce the laws fairly. Generally the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the prosecutors will not hold the police accountable for their actions, unless they are objectively unreasonable and violate a clearly established constitutional right. This is the principle of “qualified immunity” which is used to dismiss many cases of black victims of excessive force. But change is required, and we remember our history, and how wrong the court was in the 1857 Supreme Court decision of Dred Scott concluding the black man has no rights a white man need respect. At that time the court would not recognize your citizenship. Then after the Civil War the Congress proposed and passed a constitutional amendment to correct Dred Scott, a la the 13th and 14th amendment. Similarly, today the Congress has proposed ending qualified immunity, but it is stalled by Republicans in the Senate. Elections have consequences, and we must make sure we vote in overwhelming number to ensure democracy work for all of us. Therefore, until we get justice, we must fight for justice and this office is committed to seeking justice for you.