Home : Police Practices : Police Abuse

ACLU Suit Charges Lawrence Police with Inhumane Treatment of Arrestee (04/02/2009)
BOSTON -- Lawrence police officers beat and choked an Essex County resident at the police station after his arrest, then forced him to strip naked and placed him in a small cell with another detainee, according to a civil rights suit filed today by the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts.

ACLU-NC Legal Foundation Sues Elon Police Department for Excessive Use of Force on Behalf of Grandfather Who Was Unlawfully and Repeatedly Shot With Taser In Front of His Home (03/30/2009)
ELON – The American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina Legal Foundation (ACLU-NCLF) filed a lawsuit today in the federal district court for the Middle District of North Carolina on behalf of John W. Paylor, a resident of Elon and a 54-year-old grandfather who was shot twice with a Taser by Elon police officers on June 18, 2006. The officers had surrounded the home of Mr. Paylor in order to serve him with a misdemeanor arrest warrant for using profanity on a public highway and for reckless driving. A videotape of the incident shows that Mr. Paylor was unarmed, in his underwear, and presented no threat to the officers. Nevertheless, without just cause, one of the officers shot Mr. Paylor with a Taser, causing him to fall from his porch. Then, while Mr. Paylor was lying on the ground, unable to move from the shock of being tased and from the fall down his steps, Officer Dunn tased him a second time. Mr. Paylor has sustained permanent physical scarring from the incident.

MCLU Argues Against Police Brutality (11/03/2008)
PORTLAND — Tomorrow, attorneys for Rosanna Morelli will present arguments in her police brutality case at the U. S. Court of Appeals in Boston. Ms. Morelli, who was injured by a South Portland police officer in 2006, hopes to persuade the court to allow her case to go to trial. The police never arrested Ms. Morelli, who suffered from a torn rotator cuff from the incident.

MCLU Files Appeal in Excessive Force Case (08/05/2008)
PORTLAND –The Maine Civil Liberties Union Foundation today filed an appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in a case involving allegations of excessive force by a South Portland police officer. The U.S. District Court had granted summary judgment to the officer in a ruling in May.

ACLU Seeks Investigation Into Tasing Death In Winnfield (07/16/2008)
NEW ORLEANS - Today, the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana sent a letter urging the District Attorney of Winn Parish to investigate the tasing death of Baron DeAundrae Pikes, who died on January 17 from electrocution while in police custody. Mr. Pike's death certificate clearly shows that he was tased no fewer than nine times – while already in police restraints – and that he died as a result of electroshock injuries.

NYCLU Report: Arresting Protest (04/28/2003)

ACLU Complaint in Arutinova v. Perry (08/22/2006)

Testimony of Legislative Counsel Tim Edgar on S. 1749, The Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act Before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration (04/12/2002)

Testimony of National Capital Area Executive Director Johnny Barnes on DC Surveillance Cameras Before the House Government Reform Subcommittee on the District of Columbia (03/22/2002)

Testimony of Washington National Office Director Laura Murphy on Police Abuse Before a Congressional Black Caucus Hearing (05/10/1999)

Stories of ACLU Clients Swept Up in the Hearne Drug Bust of November 2000 (11/01/2002)

Poster Commemorating Louis Torres (10/24/2002)