2010

Simon Glik was arrested for illegal wiretapping for openly using his cell phone to record police brutality by the Boston police. Our lawsuit, brought with the ACLU of Mass., argued that the arrest violated Mr. Glik’s clearly established constitutional rights. The Defendants lost a motion to dismiss and appealed to the First Circuit. David Milton argued the appeal. The appeals court’s landmark decision in August 2011 declared that the First Amendment protects the right to record police carrying out their duties in a public place.

In Lowell on 5/8/06, Mr. Bailey, a professor, received a call from his son, who was having difficulty with building security. Mr. Bailey rushed downstairs, not pausing to put on shoes. Officers were striking his son with batons. Mr. Bailey urged his son to calm down. Officers then roughed up Mr. Bailey, arrested him, and charged him with disorderly conduct, assault and battery on an officer, and resisting arrest. Mr. Bailey suffered nerve damage from the handcuffs. He was held overnight without medical care for his cut foot, even though he was diabetic and had high blood pressure.

Gelinas was speaking during the public comment period of a 4/14/10 school committee meeting. Gelinas said it was time for school officials, including Chairperson Boisselle, to be held responsible for their role in the death of Phoebe Prince. Before he could finish, Boisselle ordered Gelinas to sit down. Gelinas was escorted out of the meeting by police officers.

Lawrence officers beat Mr. Figueroa without justification. Officers booked Mr. Figueroa, then ordered that he strip naked and placed him naked in a small lockup cell with a clothed male prisoner. They wanted to teach Mr. Figueroa a lesson: Don’t disrespect police officers. The City of Lawrence had a policy or custom of placing arrestees naked in a cell with another prisoner when a police officer claimed the arrestee was having suicidal thoughts. This unreasonable and easily abused policy permitted officers to degrade and intimidate Mr. Figueroa by falsely claiming he was suicidal.

On March 16, 2006, Somerville officer Freitas, who was off-duty and had been drinking, confronted Gerard Contaldi (15) and his friends about kicking a recycling bin near Freitas’s sports car. Freitas called Gerard an idiot and slapped him. One of Gerard’s friends pushed Freitas, then the boys ran away. Officers stopped Gerard, threw him to the ground, and cuffed him. An officer pressed Gerard’s face in the gravel. Freitas hit Gerard in the eye with a flashlight.

David Woodman was a 22-year-old man who was walking home from the Fenway Park area in June, 2008 after the Boston Celtics won the NBA championship. As David passed a group of police officers, he was arrested for carrying an open container of beer. Witnesses reported that police officers slammed David to the ground. David was held by the police until EMTs arrived. When the EMTs arrived, David was not breathing, he had no pulse, and his body was blue and cold. He suffered a cardiac arrhythmia and brain damage. David died at the hospital 11 days later.

Mentally ill man, afraid to drink anything but bottled water, allowed to die of dehydration in jail; neglect of his serious psychiatric needs; survived by his mother.

23 y.o. man shot to death when he and two friends were leaving nightclub. 50 rounds fired at car and each of the three men hit; survived by fiancée and parents, they and two friends who survived shooting brought suit. Involved officers later acquitted.