Entries from October 2009
Jaqueline Fegan, a traffic ticketing supervisor, recently won a $1.553 million jury verdict against the City of Chicago in a rather unusual civil rights suit. Fegan alleged that police had falsely arrested and battered her after she refused to rescind a parking ticket that a subordinate of Fegan’s had issued to an officer’s private car. The Chicao Sun-Time has the story here, the Tribune, here.
Apparently a heated argument ensued when Fegan refused to comply with the officer’s demand that the traffic ticket be “non-suited” and the officers ultimately arrested Fegan for what they claimed was a jaywalking offense. In the process, Fegan claims they injured her wrist and shoulder and also conspired to cover up the episode by crafting a story that Fegan was the one who was throwing her clout around and had fought back against and injured the officers.
One wonders why the City took the case to trial rather than settle. Perhaps the City attorneys thought they had the moral highground here: police officer ticketed while on official duty? If so, they were sorely mistaken. I would argue that arresting a colleague, especially for the dubious crime of “jaywalking,” after a heated argument about rescinding a traffic ticket, is indefensible before most juries. It’s unclear from news reports how the judgment was apportioned, i.e., compensatory or punitive damages, but I imagine a large chunk of it was directed at punishing the rather outlandish actions of the officers.
If you’re interested in learning more about the case, the complaint can be downloaded here.
Categories: Civil Rights · Police Corruption · Social Justice · U.S. News
Tagged: Chicago Police Department, False Arrest, Jaqueline Fegan, Traffic Ticket
In today’s Times, John Schwartz profiles Tom Dunn, a death penalty lawyer turned middle school teacher in Atlanta. Dunn worked at the Georgia Resource Center defending clients on death row until he himself was on death’s bed, suffering a catastrophic illness in 2006. That’s when he called it quits and decided to devote his time and energy toward teaching middle school students. As the Times put it, Dunn “having seen too many people at the end of lives gone wrong … want[ed] to keep these students from ending up like his former clients.”
It’s a meaningful story and I encourage you all to read it, here.
Categories: Atlanta News · Death Penalty · Georgia News · Social Justice
Tagged: Death Penalty Lawyer, Georgia Resource Center, John Schwartz, Tom Dunn
Sorry for the long delay in posting. Things have been a bit hectic around here but I hope to continue posting regularly.
Here’s what you may have missed in my absence though:
A federal judge in the Northern District of Georgia sentenced Joshua David Lowe, an ex-jail sergeant at the Polk County Jail, to 21 months in prison for beating an inmate who was strapped to a restraining chair. A fellow jailer and witness to the beating said that the inmate was “spewing blood” and that there was “blood everywhere.” Lowe pleaded guilty, which, perhaps, explains the unusually lenient sentence. And let’s not forget that Lowe is a law enforcement officer, after all, who is nothing but well-intentioned. The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorneys Office, one of several that has been brought by the feds in recent moths (see here and here). Of course, police brutality against inmates, whether it’s of the violent or non-violent variety, are common, and one wonders why the feds don’t pursue more of these cases. Because what happens at the county jail stays in the county jail. Ultimately, it is up to the better officers, those with a conscience and a heart who see their colleagues go to town on an inmate, to break this cycle of secrecy and violence.
Texas continues to make its mark as the capitol of injustice in criminal and death penalty prosecutions. The 2005 execution of Cameron Todd Willingham who was convicted of setting fire to his home and killing his three children has returned to the media spotlight after Texas Governor Rick Perry took some swipes (some would say unwarranted) at Willingham, calling him a “monster” and a “bad man.” This came after Perry pulled some strings last minute to change the composition of an official forensic science commission that was about to issue a report on whether Willingham really did commit arson and murder his three kids. Grits for Breakfast has the story here. Texas injustice also made news with the release of Richard Miles, who was serving 15 years in prison for shooting two individuals, one of whom died. The release came after Centurion Ministries, a prisoner advocacy group, uncovered police files that show that someone else – not Miles – had actually confessed to the shooting. Evidence that was withheld by the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office headed by Craig Watkins.
Categories: Atlanta News · Civil Rights · Criminal Law · Death Penalty · Georgia News · Police Corruption · Social Justice · U.S. News
Tagged: Cameron Todd Willingham, Craig Watkins, Dallas County District Attorney's Office, Governor Rick Perry, Joshua David Lowe, Polk County Jail, Richard Miles
