Ohio’s Police Misconduct,Excessive Force,and Wrongful Arrest

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Police brutality occurs when officers use unlawful or excessive force, harass individuals, illegally detain them, or violate constitutional rights. Most serious civil-rights litigation involving police misconduct in Ohio is through § 1983, which allows plaintiffs to sue “state actors” (police officers in this case) for misconduct and other violations.
 

It is important to remember that excessive force is addressed usually by the Fourth Amendment, which involves protections against unreasonable seizures. However, courts utilize “objective reasonableness” under the Fourth Amendment, in which force must be judged from the perspective of a “reasonable officer on the scene,” considering that officers make split-second decisions in these circumstances.
 

For wrongful arrest(s) claims, a § 1983 claim typically requires proving that the officer lacked probable cause. This is not foolproof, however, as officers may be legally immune if they are “reasonable but mistakenly” believed probable cause existed. Immunity is negated when the plaintiff can show that the officer violated a constitutional right, and that the right was “clearly established” in a way that a reasonable officer would know that their conduct was unlawful. 

In Ohio, qualified immunity for officers has protected them in high-profile cases, such as Novak v. City of Parma, in which officers were granted immunity for an arrest based on a parody Facebook post. This makes litigation complex for civil rights attorneys, as plaintiffs must identify precedent to overcome the immunity defense for officers.
 

Civil rights attorneys must carefully assess whether a case has a clearly established law or strong facts, such as no probable cause or very obvious excessive force, because unfortunately, not all misconduct will overcome immunity. Successful long-term civil rights attorneys often involve municipal liability, in which they prove that the city or department had deficient training, policies, or deliberate indifference. Officers will legally retaliate through motions to dismiss, or summary judgements, so an experienced civil rights attorney with strong knowledge of both constitutional law and Ohio-specific immunity law are often needed. Fortunately, Adam is highly experienced in them. 

Yes. Adam handles all forms of police misconduct, including:

● Excessive force

● Racial profiling
 

● Illegal searches
 

● Intimidation
 

● Harassment
 

● Wrongful arrest(s)

If you’re looking for a police misconduct attorney, police harassment attorney, or attorney for police harassment, Adam can help investigate and pursue justice.