Pre-lawsuit hurdle: the government claim
Before filing a lawsuit for violations of California law, a person injured by law-enforcement officers or jail correctio...
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Helm Law Office, PC fights for people whose civil rights have been violated “under color of law” by police officers, sheriff’s deputies, correctional officers, and the counties, cities, and other public and private entities that employ them.
After suffering injury at the hands of law enforcement, the injured–or, too often, their survivors–often simply want to find out what happened to them or their loved one. Sadly, law-enforcement agencies often hide these facts, refusing victims’ and survivors’ requests for information, claiming that interminable “ongoing investigations” prevent them from releasing information about what happened.
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Pre-lawsuit hurdle: the government claim
Before filing a lawsuit for violations of California law, a person injured by law-enforcement officers or jail correctio...
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Section 1983 claims generally
42 U.S.C. section 1983 allows police-misconduct victims to hold wrongdoing officers, their supervisors, and employers ac...
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Section 1983 excessive-force claims
Police uses of force fall on a continuum that proceeds from "command presence," to going “hands-on” with a person vi...
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Section 1983 excessive-force jail claims
The Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment protects a pretrial detainee from the use of excessive force that amo...
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Section 1983 jail claims based on conditions of confinement
The Fourteenth Amendment provides pretrial detainees with the right to be protected from attack by other inmates while t...
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Section 1983 unreasonable searches of the home
To succeed at trial, the victim must present evidence to the jury proving the unreasonableness of the search given all o...
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Section 1983 wrongful detentions and arrests
Interactions with police officers may be thought of on a continuum, from consensual encounters to a detention, and then ...
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California false imprisonment (false arrest) claims
People have the right under California law to be protected from bodily restraint. A false-imprisonment claim requires ...
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Section 1983 loss of familial association
In addition to bringing their deceased loved one’s claims that “survived” death, as well as wrongful-death claims,...
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Section 1983 claims against supervisors
Under certain facts, a police supervisor may be liable for the violation of a person's federal civil rights, where the s...
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Section 1983 claims against a municipality or its subcontractor
Under Section 1983, a government entity—such as a city or county—cannot be held indirectly responsible for its offic...
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Qualified immunity in section 1983 claims
A total shield to section 1983 liability, qualified immunity is a late twentieth-century creation, an example of conserv...
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Americans with Disability Act (ADA)
In 2014, the Ninth Circuit recognized that the ADA applies to arrests under two theories. Sheehan v. City & Count...
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Negligence
Police-misconduct victims may bring negligence claims against officers. If a jury finds that the officers were neglige...
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Wrongful-death claims
A wrongful-death claim arises out of an officer’s negligence or “wrongful act.” Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 377.60....
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