Michigan Deputy Who Ignored Jail Rape of Mentally Ill Man Won't Get Immunity

A former inmate who was raped in a Michigan jail can sue one of the corrections officers for civil rights abuses, the 6th Circuit ruled, finding that the deputy does not qualify for immunity because he acted with "deliberate indifference."
     When Russell A. Bishop was 19 years old, he spent about a month in Macomb County Jail on charges of assault with intent to murder. Bishop had a history of mental illness, and his temporary cell assignment form noted that he was of small build.
     "The form also stated that Bishop was unable to understand questions; exhibited angry or hostile and bizarre behavior; and appeared anxious or afraid, depressed, confused, and unusually embarrassed," according to the ruling. 
     While assigned to the jail's mental health unit, corrections officers housed him with another inmate, Charlie Floyd, a 44-year-old who had been charged with multiple counts of criminal sexual conduct.
     For the last 10 days of Bishop's stay in the jail, the inmates were separated by a protective order. 
     Bishop filed suit nearly three years later against several jail employees who he claims did nothing to stop Floyd from sexually abusing him even after he reported repeated assaults. 

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Fort Wayne (TX) Police on trial - Suicidal Latino Man Killed by Police

More than five years ago, Fort Wayne police forcefully entered Rudy Escobedo's downtown apartment. Within seconds, he was dead.

After years of legal proceedings, a U.S. District Court jury will decide whether the officers acted with excessive force. The two-week trial is scheduled to begin Tuesday.

Escobedo's family sued a number of Fort Wayne Police Department officers and the city of Fort Wayne. They alleged police violated Escobedo's constitutional rights by using excessive force and causing his death.

What is left for the jury to decide is whether individual officers – Fort Wayne Police Deputy Chief Martin Bender, Deputy Chief Douglas Lucker, Lt. Kevin Zelt, Sgt. Kevin Hunter, Sgt. Tim Selvia, officer Scott Straub, officer Jason Brown and officer Brian Martin – violated Escobedo's constitutional rights by acting with excessive force.

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Cleveland Police Beat Restrained Black Man - Police Hold Video

CLEVELAND -- Edward Henderson said he was handcuffed when Cleveland police beat him brutally, forcing him to be hospitalized for three days.

 "Some of the officers may have exhibited some inappropriate conduct that, if proven true, are severe consequences for that kind of action," Cleveland Safety Director Martin Flask said. Flask confirmed that a police internal investigation is underway into the Jan. 1 incident.

Henderson spoke exclusively with the Investigator Tom Meyer inside the Cuyahoga County jail where's he's being held on charges of assault and refusal to obey a police order.

He said as many as three officers were delivering blows to his head, using their knees. In a desperate attempt to make them stop, he made up a story about being HIV positive.

He says an officer called him a derogatory gay name and another cautioned fellow cops about Henderson's blood. "This officer stated, and I'll never forget it. He said, 'I don't care. It's tasty,' and he was talking about my blood," Henderson said.

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Congressman Al Green to weigh in on Houston Police Beating of Unarmed Black Teen

The congressman for the Texas district where police officers were allegedly caught on tape beating a young burglary suspect is set to weigh in on the controversial arrest.

Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) will host a press conference Monday in Houston to discuss the officers' conduct during the incident.  Green's public statement comes in response to the arrest of Chad Holley, a black 15-year-old who was a suspect in a home burglary case. In making the arrest last March, a surveillance camera caught the officers kicking Holley after he had effectively surrendered.

Holley was later convicted of burglary.

The tape of the alleged beating, which a federal judge ordered not to be released to the public, was leaked by a member of the New Black Panthers party last week, according to CBS News. It aired last Wednesday.

Green, a former president of the Houston chapter of the NAACP, is an outspoken critic of racial profiling in law enforcement.

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SC Deputy Found Guilty for Beating Handcuffed Black Prisoner

From [HERE] and [See Video Here] Prosecutors in the case against a former Kershaw County sheriff’s deputy said Thursday afternoon that they were not nervous as jury deliberations dragged into a second day.

 In the end, the prosecutors won a conviction against Oddie Tribble, 51, on a federal civil rights charge for beating a handcuffed detainee. After the verdict, Beth Drake, an assistant U.S. attorney in Columbia, said the jury needed time to review a video of the beating and match it with witness testimony. Plus, it is a hard decision to convict a police officer, she said.

 “It’s never a good day when a law enforcement officer is convicted of a civil rights violation,” Drake said.

 Tribble faces a maximum punishment of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for violating a detainee’s right to be free from excessive force by a law enforcement officer. His sentencing has been scheduled for May 12 in U.S. District Court in Columbia.

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Quanell X Applauds Release of Video, Denounces Houston Police

From [HERE] [see video HERE] HOUSTON -- Prosecutors and Houston Mayor Annise Parker on Thursday criticized a community activist's release of a surveillance video that appears to show four former city police officers kicking and stomping a black teenage burglary suspect last year, saying it could jeopardize the cases against the officers.

But leaders in Houston's black community applauded the release of what they called the "appalling" and "outrageous" actions of "rogue officers."

"This never, ever should have been kept from the people," said Quanell X, the community activist who released the video to Houston television station KTRK, which aired it Wednesday evening. "What's on that tape, the world will get a chance to see now how they truly behave in public with young black men."

Quanell X released the video despite a court order by a federal judge in October that had barred its release before the officers' trials. The order was related to a federal lawsuit the teenager, Chad Holley, has filed in which he alleges that his civil rights were violated during his arrest. A court order in the criminal cases involving the indicted officers had also barred the video's release before trial.

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Civil Trial Continues Against Monroe Police - Mentally Ill Black Man Shot 29 Times

This week in court the details of Mr. Henderson’s death were generally undisputed:

A passerby reported seeing a man walking the street carrying a chain and a knife. When police arrived they found Henderson walking across a field toward an alley. The police yelled at him to put down the knife repeatedly, almost 30 times. Henderson continued walking, spouting vulgarities saying police could not shoot him because they could not see him.

An officer came close to Henderson and shot him in the face with pepper balls but he continued walking away from the police. Then he was shot with a bean bag. Shortly after Henderson made a half turn in the direction of police who were nearly 30 feet or more away from him, a volley of gunfire hit, knocked him against a fence and bounced him back. On the bounceback, a second volley of shots hit him, knocking him to ground where he lay unattended.

When the smoke cleared, 29 shots had been fired; 17 hit Henderson the other 12 went into the house of a neighbor, miraculously missing scores of people who watched the incident from their yards.

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No Justice: Cop who Tortured Hundreds of Black Men Gets Light Sentence

CHICAGO (From the FinalCall.com) - After evading justice for over three decades, former Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge was sentenced by a federal judge Jan. 21 to 4 1/2 years in prison for obstruction of justice and perjury.

Many victims have publicly shared harrowing stories of torture at the hands of Mr. Burge and his henchmen. Many experience recurring nightmares and live in constant fear of retaliation from members of the Chicago Police Department. Tragically, while spending time behind bars wrongfully imprisoned, many of the men lost family members and believe despite the sentencing, justice has eluded them.

“By no means is this justice,” Darrell Cannon told The Final Call. “What about all those brothers still languishing in prison? You can’t bring my mother back.”

Mr. Cannon remembers vividly the night of November 2, 1983, when he was taken by police to a remote location and a shotgun was forced into his mouth, splitting his lip. He said the offi cers beat him, simulated his execution, tried to hang him and later used an electric cattle prod to shock his genitals.

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Lawsuit says New Orleans Sheriff Marlin Gusman holds immigrants too long

Members of the Congress of Day Laborers on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against Orleans Parish Sheriff Marlin Gusman in U.S. District Court, alleging he holds immigrants for far longer than the 48 hours permitted by federal law after all charges are resolved.

On Wednesday afternoon, the group began a 24-hour prayer vigil in front of Gusman's office "to demand an end to the racial profiling and race-based deportation."

Gusman's spokesman did not respond to requests for comment.

At the request of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency, local authorities may hold defendants on an immigration detainer for 48 hours, not counting weekends and holidays. If ICE agents don't pick up a prisoner within that time frame, then, by law, local authorities must release them.

The suit was filed on behalf of two plaintiffs: Antonio Ocampo, who was held for 91 days, and Mario Cacho, who was held for 164 days.

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Richmond Police drop demand for CopWatch to Return Documents

The Richmond Police Department is dropping its demand for the return of dozens of internal documents it provided to a group called Richmond Copwatch, a week after filing suit in Richmond Circuit Court seeking an emergency protective order.

The 600 pages of documents were supplied last month, at a cost of $89.25, after a Freedom of Information Act request by an anarchist who uses the name "Mo Karn," short for "Mo Karnage."

Richmond police turned over materials such as their Emergency Operations Plan, the Homeland Security Criminal Intelligence Unit Operating Manual and the Mobile Command Center Operating Manual.

Karn then put them online.

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