Westchester County is home to some of the wealthiest communities in the United States. However, that wealth does not shield the county’s residents from violations of their civil rights. Overzealous police in White Plains, Yonkers, and elsewhere in the county can quickly exceed the limits on their authority and trample on the rights of any person– regardless of their means.
The attorneys at the New York City law firm of Friedman, Levy, Goldfarb, & Green have proudly represented Westchester County’s residents in civil rights actions for more than 50 years. We do this by holding aggressive law enforcement authorities responsible for the injuries and damages they cause when they fail to adhere to their strict limits. These limits are set under the United States and New York State Constitutions.
The police do not have unqualified immunity from misconduct claims
The law gives police broad latitude to perform their jobs and keep the peace. Yet, that latitude does not extend to excessive use of force, abusive searches, seizures of evidence, or uninvited entry onto a private citizen’s property. You should never hesitate to contact a civil rights attorney in Westchester, NY, if you believe, for example, that the police are targeting you as a result of racial or ethnic profiling. The same is true if you are detained at a traffic stop longer than is necessary to evaluate a suspected violation. It also includes whether you are encouraged to waive your right not to talk or be represented by a lawyer or find yourself in any other situation where the police are taking undue advantage of their power.
The police will inevitably try to justify their actions with a claim of qualified immunity. Your Westchester County civil rights lawyerwill analyze the evidence to show whether and to what extent that claim is unjustified under the circumstances of your case.
A civil rights lawyer can recover damages based on the level of the injury that you suffered
Your damages in a civil rights case may not be limited to medical costs and expenses associated with a physical injury or property loss. A serious violation of your civil rights can distract you from your employment and force you and your family to deal with psychological trauma. Counties and municipalities in New York routinely pay hundreds of millions of dollars every year to victims of police and prosecutorial misconduct to resolve civil rights claims.
The evidence in your case might show that you are entitled to recover damages for your current and anticipated medical expenses, pain, suffering, and mental anguish. It would also include wages and future earnings that you lost while dealing with a civil rights violation. Finally, egregious misconduct by police or prosecutors can also be a basis for punitive damages.
A civil rights lawsuit begins with the preservation of all relevant evidence
Whether your civil rights have been violated will always be a function of what the facts and evidence of your situation might reveal. To prove your case, a Westchester County personal injury attorney with experience in gathering and analyzing evidence will review police reports and other official documents that describe the event. They will also analyze your medical bills to show how you sustained your injuries.
The police or prosecutors will typically have their own version of the event, and that version might differ from witness memories. You will have the best opportunity to recover the damages you deserve when you initiate an investigation with your own attorney as soon as possible after it happened.
Call the Westchester County Civil Rights Lawyers at Friedman, Levy, Goldfarb, Green & Bagley, P.C.
Never assume that you have no reason to pursue police or prosecutors when your civil rights have been ignored. Instead, call us when Westchester County law enforcement authorities have trampled on your Constitutional civil rights. Schedule a free consultation today to preserve your right to recover the largest amount of compensation available to you.
