#police civilian oversight board

[davidblaska]

Only 2 Madison alders had the courage to vote NO

against the $22 million City spending referendum! We don’t play identity politics here at the Werkes, although we suspect that the Lovely Lisa may be of Polish extraction. Her last name has the letter Z in it, among an abundance of consonants. Pronounced properly, as a Warsaw telephone operator once corrected us, her name sounds like a violent sneeze. But the pool in which we swim here in…

[tomorrowusa]

Ron DeSantis suffered a humiliating defeat in his effort to win the GOP presidential nomination. But he's still governor of Florida and has the power to do a lot of damage in the state.

While Republicans like to talk a lot about devolving power to localities, DeSantis has a record of using state government to bully Florida municipalities. His latest move limits local governments' abilities to protect citizens.

Florida is seeing two more recent instances of state government under Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis limiting the powers of local government with newly signed bills that deal with worker safety and police oversight. A bill signed Thursday bans local governments from requiring heat and water breaks for outdoor workers. And a bill DeSantis signed Friday strips local citizen police oversight boards from investigating officers.

Some Republicans feel nostalgic about slavery. Now workers in Florida no longer have protections from local governments when it comes to working during hot weather. And with climate change, Florida ain't getting any colder.

And if any of those workers protest their working conditions, any police misconduct involved in repressing those protests will no longer be disciplined by local civilian police review boards.

Florida, one of the hottest states in the country, local governments will be banned from requiring heat and water breaks for outdoor workers. It was a direct response to Miami-Dade County's effort to require shade and water for construction, farm and other outdoor workers. [ ... ] Democratic state Sen. Victor Torres called the new law an attack on workers.

Heaven forbid that DeSantis and his Florida GOP would let workers get enough water and shade!

Civilian police boards have been reduced by DeSantis to little more than talking shops.

Separately, DeSantis signed a bill Friday that would ban local policy advisory commissions from initiating disciplinary actions against officers, instead limiting the citizens boards to making recommendations on policy. DeSantis was surrounded by law enforcement officers and in front of cheering supporters as he signed the bill to ban citizens oversight boards from investigating complaints about police officers.

And the bill effectively puts the wolf in charge of the chicken coop.

The law also requires the oversight boards to be appointed by and under the direction of sheriffs and police chiefs. At least one member of oversight boards must be a retired law enforcement officer.

DeSantis is turning Florida into an anti-worker police state.

Of course Ron would not have such influence without huge Republican majorities in the gerrymandered Florida legislature.

Reducing those legislative majorities is a first step to re-democratization in the state. Look up who represents you in the legislature. If DeSantis Republicans represent your districts, contact the county or state Democratic Party to see what you can do to defeat the DeSantis lackeys.

Find Your Legislators Look your legislators up by address or use your current location.

If the reproductive freedom amendment passes this year, that may bode well for a future anti-gerrymandering amendment in the future.

Florida is not as solidly Republican as some people think. Trump won the state in 2020 by just 3.36% of the vote. Michigan went from a Republican trifecta to a Democratic trifecta in less than 10 years; with some effort and unity, Florida can do the same.

[catdotjpeg]

Nearly 40 NYPD officers are facing allegations of misconduct connected to protests surrounding the war in Gaza, the city’s police watchdog agency announced Wednesday. The Civilian Complaint Review Board has received 20 complaints related to the demonstrations, some of which name more than one officer, Director Jonathan Darche said during a monthly meeting. Five of the complaints pertain to protests on college campuses. There is no threshold to file a complaint with the CCRB. The board will next decide which allegations are within its jurisdiction and investigate the ones that are. The NYPD did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.

“New York City must remain a place where students feel safe and opinions can be voiced safely, especially of our young New Yorkers,” interim Board Chair Arva Rice said. “For demonstrations to remain safe, the policing of these protests must remain just and any misconduct that occurs must be held to account.” The Civilian Complaint Review Board investigates some types of alleged police misconduct, including excessive force and discourtesy. It can recommend discipline when its investigators find that an officer has violated department policy but does not have the authority to impose punishments. The number of complaints connected to the recent protests about the war in Gaza pales in comparison to those filed in relation to the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, when thousands of New Yorkers flooded the streets. That year, people filed more than 750 complaints, including allegations that officers drove into a throng of protesters, dispersed their pepper spray indiscriminately, fractured bones with harsh baton strikes and bound demonstrators’ hands so tightly with zip ties that they temporarily lost feeling in their hands. A lengthy report published last year urged the NYPD to improve its response to demonstrations — and make it easier for the oversight group to investigate complaints. A federal judge last month ordered the NYPD to overhaul its protest protocols in response to litigation from the 2020 protests.

Tensions between police and protesters have escalated again in recent months as New Yorkers across the political spectrum have taken to the streets to weigh in on the war in Gaza. As the leaders of local universities have called in the NYPD to remove encampments on their campuses and arrest protesters who won’t leave, some police oversight advocates are concerned that the department has not made necessary changes. The Manhattan district attorney’s office is investigating an NYPD sergeant who accidentally fired his gun while searching for protesters inside an academic building at Columbia University. Police have arrested hundreds at demonstrations on and around college campuses since mid-April, according to law enforcement. Civilian Complaint Review Board officials did not share details about the allegations outlined in recent claims from protesters.

-- "Almost 40 NYPD officers face misconduct claims after recent protests, watchdog group says" by Samantha Max for Gothamist, 8 May 2024

[readingsquotes]

Brianna Villafane was in Lower Manhattan protesting police violence in the summer of 2020, when officers charged into the crowd. One of them gripped her hair and yanked her to the ground.

“I felt someone on top of me and it was hard to breathe,” she said. “I felt like I was being crushed.”

The New York City civilian oversight agency that examines allegations of police abuse investigated and concluded that the officer had engaged in such serious misconduct that it could constitute a crime.

Then last fall, the police commissioner intervened.

Exercising a little-known authority called “retention,” the commissioner, Edward Caban, ensured the case would never go to trial.

Instead, Caban reached his own conclusion in private.

He decided that it “would be detrimental to the Police Department’s disciplinary process” to pursue administrative charges against the officer, Gerard Dowling, according to a letter the department sent to the oversight agency. The force that the officer used against Villafane was “reasonable and necessary.” The commissioner ordered no discipline.

Today, Dowling is a deputy chief of the unit that handles protests throughout the city.

His case is one of dozens in which Caban has used the powers of his office to intervene in disciplinary cases against officers who were found by the oversight agency to have committed misconduct.

Since becoming commissioner last July, he has short-circuited cases involving officers accused of wantonly using chokeholds, deploying Tasers and beating protesters with batons. A number of episodes were so serious that the police oversight agency, known as the Civilian Complaint Review Board, concluded the officers likely committed crimes.

...Caban has his own history with the disciplinary process. Over his 30 years on the force, he has twice been found by the CCRB to have engaged in misconduct, making him an outlier in the department.

... [Caban] gave one of the department’s top positions to an officer who tackled and shocked a Black Lives Matter protester with a Taser in the summer of 2020. Tarik Sheppard, a captain at the time, was heading to a disciplinary trial when his case was retained a year later, with no discipline given. Sheppard is now deputy commissioner for public information. He regularly appeared on television this spring to talk about the Police Department’s response to campus protests over the Israel-Hamas war.

[beardedmrbean]

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Prosecution of violent crime in St. Louis is rising sharply in the six months since an embattled progressive prosecutor was replaced by an appointed circuit attorney, according to the prosecutor's office.

Gabe Gore said Tuesday that his office has prosecuted 45% more cases than in the same six-month period of 2022, when Kim Gardner was the city's top prosecutor. Gore, speaking at a news conference, said his office also has made a dent in a backlog of pending criminal cases by resolving about 2,500 of them — mostly violent crimes in a city with one of the highest homicide rates in the nation.

“There’s no type of crime that we are looking the other way on,” Gore said. “We are enforcing the laws. We don’t accept the notion that as a citizen of the city of St. Louis you have to accept a certain amount of property crime, or what people would refer to as petty crime, as a cost of living in the city."

Gore, a Democrat, was appointed by Republican Gov. Mike Parson in May following Gardner's resignation. Her turbulent tenure included prosecution of a sitting Republican governor, frequent run-ins with police, and criticism from Missouri Republican leaders over a backlog of cases and a high number of cases where those convicted of violent crimes were not penalized with more jail time.

The new top prosecutor said he has hired 24 attorneys to fill assistant prosecutor positions that were vacant. He's also secured working relationships with private lawyers and the U.S. Attorney's Office in St. Louis to help prosecute homicide cases.

But he acknowledged that more work remains. Gore inherited 250 homicide cases. Fifty-three have been resolved but charges have been made in 37 new homicide cases since he took office. Meanwhile, his office is reevaluating 24 killings that Gardner’s office did not charge “but that the homicide division believes have merit," Gore said.

At the time of his appointment, Gore faced a backlog of 6,700 pending cases. That number has been reduced to around 4,200. He said violent crimes were dealt with first. The remaining cases — misdemeanors and low-level felonies — are expected to be resolved by the end of March.

The Rev. Darryl Gray, a leading civil rights activist who also chairs a civilian-led jail oversight board, said St. Louis needs to focus on preventing crime before it happens, not what happens after. He said that since Gore took office the city jail has reached capacity. Over 90% of the jail’s 750-plus detainees are young Black men, Gray said.

“We still have crime,” Gray said. “And until Gabe Gore and elected officials begin to talk about prevention, all we’re going to have are full jails.”

Gore said he has hired a director of community engagement and appointed a former judge to lead a new conviction integrity unit to examine possible cases of wrongful convictions. Three convictions are currently being evaluated, Gore said.

Gardner, a Democrat, became the city’s first Black circuit attorney after her election in 2016. She was part of a movement of progressive prosecutors around the country who sought diversion programs including mental health treatment or drug abuse treatment for low-level crimes, pledged to hold police more accountable, and proactively sought to free inmates who were wrongfully convicted.

Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey filed a lawsuit in February seeking Gardner's ouster on three grounds: failure to prosecute existing cases; failure to file charges in cases brought by police; and failure to confer with and inform victims and their families about the status of cases.

Gardner said Bailey’s attack on her was politically and racially motivated.

Public opinion turned against Gardner in February after 17-year-old Janae Edmondson, a volleyball player from Tennessee, was struck by a speeding car after a tournament in downtown St. Louis. She survived but lost both legs.

The driver, 21-year-old Daniel Riley, was out on bond on a robbery charge despite nearly 100 bond violations including letting the battery of his GPS monitor die and breaking the terms of his house arrest. Critics questioned why Riley was free despite so many bond violations.

Gardner first drew the ire of Republicans in 2018 when she charged then-Gov. Eric Greitens, a Republican, with felony invasion of privacy, but the charge was eventually dropped and Greitens resigned later that year.

The Greitens case drew scrutiny that led to the conviction of Gardner’s investigator. Gardner received a written reprimand for failing to produce documents and saying incorrectly that all documents had been provided to Greitens’ lawyers.

In 2019, Gardner announced an “exclusion list” of police officers prohibited from bringing cases to her office. The nearly 60 officers were accused of posting racist and anti-Muslim comments on social media.

Gore said he is still deciding if he will run in the 2024 election to keep his job. He offered no timetable for making that decision.

[dramatisperscnae]

(For Dick)

Noted! You seen like a very capable young man.

Well, thoughts on the GCPD and Arkham?

"The GCPD is doing the best they can with what they have. In the wake of the allegations that have recently come up against her husband - and more importantly, in the wake of his death - I do not envy Commissioner Kane the firestorm she is currently having to wade through."

Though maybe it'll be enough to make her step down and put someone less unfriendly and more inclined to stamp out police corruption in her place. Montoya would be a good fit.

"As for Arkham, I am as aware as anyone else of its history, its reputation, and its various trials and tribulations. Having taken Bruce's seat on its board, and after speaking with the new staff psychologist about her own impressions of the place, I've started work on an initiative to hopefully give the place a much-needed overhaul, starting with ending Arkham's place as a civilian institution. We cannot have known and highly dangerous criminals housed in the same place as innocent people who just need a little help; we have to choose one or the other and, unfortunate as it may be, Arkham's extant reputation as a detention facility lends itself to remaining as such in perpetuity."

He pulls over a rolling chair and sits down, propping his feet on a nearby desktop.

"But my plans don't stop there. I fully intend to suggest and even sanction an independent oversight committee to look into any and all allegations of staff abuse of the inmates and patients at Arkham, as well as putting more emphasis on rehabilitation. To use a well-known Gotham example, Bruce firmly believed to the day he died that there was still a chance for Harvey Dent - you may know him better as Two-Face - to recover. I can't say whether or not he was right, but I can say that if nothing else the man deserves a fair chance to find out. A chance that isn't based on the flip of a coin."

[nando161mando]

Police oversight in Florida is already weak and the state just gutted it further. “They’re making it seem un-American to question policing, which should be a huge red flag to everybody."

[graymanbriefing]

Civil Unrest / Societal Collapse / Citizen Actions Brief: National Summary 》On August 7th in Denver, CO, 15 pro-Palestinian protesters trespassed into the Center on Colfax (LGBT community center) to stage a sit-in. They demanded a meeting with the board to discuss the center's alleged funding from weapons/tech manufacturers linked to Israel. After seven hours, management called the police, resulting in a police response (including a SWAT team). The protesters left before arrests were made. The groups involved, Disability Liberation For All, Gay Liberation Front for Palestine, and Denver Students for a De... 》In Ferguson, MO; Black Lives Matter, civil rights activists, and anti-LE activists protested. 5 rioters were charged in connection with a protest marking the 10th anniversary of Michael Brown's death (ruled justifiable). During the riot, 3 Ferguson police officers were injured (1 critically from a brain injury, in a coma). Multiple people were charged with vandalism (including felony damage to property). The suspect, who assaulted and left one officer critically injured, has been identified as an alternate delegate to the Democratic National Convention (DNC) and a member of the City of St. Louis’ Civilian Oversight Board. The protest was one of several events held to remember Brown, whose death in 2014 sparked national riots and a debate over police responses. The charged individuals face various allegat... 》In Los Angeles, CA; pro-Palestinians and activists associated with "IfNotNow" blocked traffic on 1-405 North bringing all lanes to a "standstill" while calling for a lasting ceasefire in Gaza, an end to AIPAC funding, and an arms emb... 》In NYC, NY; pro-Palestinians rioted during the Democratic AfterParty Event for VP Harris. Rioters assaulted police, deployed commercial smoke grenades, and vandalized property. Mass arre... 》Nationwide; pro-pro-Palestinians protest and r... 》In Chicago, IL on August 19-22; at the Democratic National Convention (DNC), at least 7 different protests were scheduled, each rallying for or against different causes and views. 35,000+ p...(CLASSIFIED, get briefs in real-time unredacted by joining at www.graymanbriefing.com)

[sa7abnews]

DNC delegate arrested in connection to Ferguson cop left fighting for his life after vicious attack on video

New Post has been published on https://sa7ab.info/2024/08/16/dnc-delegate-arrested-in-connection-to-ferguson-cop-left-fighting-for-his-life-after-vicious-attack-on-video/

DNC delegate arrested in connection to Ferguson cop left fighting for his life after vicious attack on video

CONTENT WARNING: GRAPHIC VIDEOTwo new graphic videos were released showing the moment a Ferguson, Missouri, police officer was violently knocked over by a suspect during a Michael Brown protest on Friday – an incident that has left the officer in critical condition. The protest came just 10 days before the start of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) and among those arrested Friday was Keith Rose, a St. Louis alternate delegate to the DNC and a member of the City of St. Louis’ Civilian Oversight Board which reviews allegations of police misconduct, Fox 2 reports. Rose has since withdrawn as an alternate DNC delegate. “Keith Rose has decided to voluntarily withdraw as an uncommitted alternate delegate to the DNC,” the Missouri Democratic Party said in a statement.  The new videos, taken from two different angles, show Ferguson Police Officer Travis Brown apparently being hit by 28-year-old suspect Elijah Gantt on a sidewalk outside a police station after protesters attempted to pull down a perimeter fence. Police say Brown is “fighting for his life” after being critically injured in an assault during protests on the 10th anniversary of the fatal shooting of Michael Brown.FERGUSON OFFICER ‘FIGHTING FOR HIS LIFE’ AFTER INJURY AT PROTEST ON 10TH ANNIVERSARY OF MICHAEL BROWN SHOOTINGThe newly released video, taken from CCTV and another police officer’s bodycam, was played at a news conference Tuesday and shows the suspect had a running start when he ran down the officer, whose head violently struck the pavement. Officer Brown was unconscious and prone on his back with the suspect lying on his chest as other officers quickly arrived and jumped on the suspect.Brown, who has twin young daughters, suffered a severe brain injury after hitting his head in the fall.”I think it’s a clear indication that my officer was charged and was hit violently by this individual,” Police Chief Troy Doyle said Tuesday. “If you look at the video, the officer is standing up, waiting to catch this guy. This guy tackled my guy like he’s a football player.”Many of the 150 or so people at the news conference – including at least three dozen police officers and mayors from several St. Louis-area cities – gasped when they saw the footage.Gantt, of East St. Louis, Illinois, was already charged with assault and is facing a new assault charge for allegedly kicking another officer in the head, St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell said. Gantt is jailed on a $500,000 cash-only bond.Protesters were peaceful for most of Friday night and police allowed them to block streets outside the station, Doyle told reporters. Police also didn’t intervene when protesters began shaking a fence outside the station.But Doyle said that when protesters broke the fence, destroying property on police grounds, he sent out an arrest team, which included Officer Brown, who is Black. MINNESOTA RIOTS CONTINUED AFTER WALZ TOOK ‘RESPONSIBILITY TO ENSURE’ THERE WOULDN’T BE CHAOSRose, the DNC delegate, is accused of kicking in part a metal gate outside the Ferguson Police Department during the protest and is now charged with first-degree property damage. He’s free on a $500 bond, FOX 2 reports.His attorney labeled the charges as bogus and said Rose was not involved in damaging the fence, according to the outlet.Officer Brown started with the department in January and previously worked for the St. Louis County Police Department. He is part of a wave of Black officers hired into the department since 2014. Back then, there were just three Black officers in the department, but Black officers now make up more than half of the police force, Doyle said.”He wanted to be part of the change,” Doyle said at a weekend press briefing. “He wanted to make an impact in our community. He’s the type of officer that we want in our community. And what happens? He gets assaulted. I had to look his mother in the eye and tell her what happened to her son. I’m never going to do that again, I promise you that.”Brown’s family released a statement on Wednesday praising first responders and thanking the public for the outpouring of support they have received. They also asked for people’s continued prayers.”We are holding onto hope and trusting in the power of faith to see him through this difficult time,” the statement reads, in part. “Travis is more than a police officer; he is a devoted father, son, brother, uncle, godfather, and friend. A man of strong faith, his heart is as big as his smile, and his positive energy is truly contagious. TJ is also an athlete, an adventurer, a lover of movies, and so much more. We know he is determined to continue living life to the fullest once he has recovered.”PENNSYLVANIA OFFICER AT TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT SAYS HE NEEDS ‘EMPIRE’ AMID SECRET SERVICE STAFFING WOESThe violence that resulted in Officer Brown’s injury drew an angry response from Doyle and from several people in Ferguson, a community of about 18,000 where roughly two-thirds of residents are Black. Many wondered what protesters were so angry about given the changes in Ferguson over the past decade.”Let’s recognize the good that has taken place in our police department. Let’s recognize the reform,” Doyle said Tuesday.In 2014, the Ferguson department had around 50 White officers and only three Black officers. Today, 22 of the 41 officers are Black, including Travis Brown. Officers are trained in crisis intervention, avoiding bias, and Doyle said he even changed the look of uniforms after residents said the old look was “triggering.”Two other officers also were hurt, one sustaining an ankle injury and another an abrasion. Both were treated at the scene.Michael Brown’s death led to massive demonstrations that helped to solidify the Black Lives Matter movement in Ferguson, Missouri, and around the country.In 2015, the Justice Department declined to charge Darren Wilson, the officer who shot Michael Brown, but released a highly critical report that noted racial bias in the Ferguson police department and the county courts.The DNC did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.Fox News’ Stephen Sorace and the Associated Press contributed to this report

[cavenewstimes]

Chicago shooting investigation could take up to 18 months

Chicago shooting investigation could take up to 18 months A civilian oversight board in Chicago is investigating the fatal police shooting of a 26-year-old Dexter Reed Jr. during a traffic stop. National From Chicago shooting investigation could take up to 18 months A civilian oversight board in Chicago is investigating the fatal police shooting of a 26-year-old Dexter Reed Jr. during a…

[davidblaska]

Asking for a friend

Anyone predict burning tires in our future? Eric Hovde promises to donate his salary if elected Senator. Why advertise that you are Daddy Warbucks? Chuck Schumer is telling Israelis to change leaders? How would Democrats like it if Bibi Netanyahu told American Jews to vote Trump? (Bonus question: How about we protect our own goddamn border?) Do you really want Elon Musk or George Soros to…

[pattyspatio]

DeSantis signs a bill that reduces the ability to hold law enforcement accountable.

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a controversial bill, HB 601, that significantly reduces their ability to hold law enforcement accountable and effectively curtails the power of civilian oversight boards in Florida to investigate police misconduct. Prior to this bill, civilian oversight boards had the authority to review investigations of police officers. These boards provided an essential source of…

[pscottm]

Florida bans civilian boards from investigating police misconduct

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a controversial bill Friday stripping citizen oversight boards of their power to investigate police misconduct,” the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports.

“The bill, HB 601, instead allows local chiefs of police agencies to create their own ‘civilian oversight’ boards composed of three to seven members, all appointed by the chief or sheriff. But these boards can only review policies and procedures, not oversee use-of-force complaints or internal affairs investigations.

[usnewsper-politics]

Baltimore Police Oversight Board Holds Officers Accountable for Misconduct, Making Policing Fairer and Safer #BaltimorePoliceAccountabilityBoard #civilianoversightboard #policeaccountabilityandtransparency #policedepartmentreforms #policemisconductcomplaints

[loblawslawblog2323]

A Trip Through Tribunal History in Celebration of the Hundredth Anniversary of Judicial 3000 

It is hard to believe that there was a time when humans lived without “Judicial 3000”. “Judicial 3000” is of course an artificial intelligence program which calculates information to the closest degree in order to determine the fairest solution to various legal conflicts. To celebrate the hundredth anniversary of this program, the staff at the “The Bob Loblaw Law Blog” are looking back at a much more complicated and tenacious time in legal history when mere human mortals sat around and decided various legal and fairness issues. To do this we the staff at the ”The Bob Loblaw Law Blog” traveled to planet Westlaw where we were granted access to various different tribunal hearings. Two caught our attention and we decided to share those with our gracious readers today.

Obviously, we have all heard our history teacher bots talk about the issue of policing in the 2000s, all of which culminated in the tense North American Black Lives Matter protests in the year 2020. The relationship between the citizenry and police was tense particularly within marginalized groups in the earth state formally known as Canada. This remains an important time in history and as such we decided to bring you a glimpse into one of the ways in which such issues were handled. Namely, we bring you an October 17th, 2023, hearing from the Ontario Civilian Police Commission (OCPC).

According to its own website, OCPC was among three civilian police oversight agencies in Ontario. The other two are Special Investigation Unit and Office of the Independent Police Review Director. Before politician-bots ran a strictly centralized government and “Judicial 3000” dealt out remedies for injured parties in a variety of fields, certain legislative documents gave power to administrative tribunals to resolve conflicts. The OCPC got its powers and duties from the Police Services Act, section 22(1) which empowered the board members to uphold prescribed standards of police services. While that is the source of its power, the source of the OCPC’s existence is the Adjudicative Tribunals Accountability, Governance and Appointments Act of 2009. This document chronicles the course of conduct expected of tribunals. 

Essentially, the narrative the police adhered to was that Mr. Debungee had been drunk and fallen into the Bay. So, what’s the issue here? Well, the issue is that the death was suspicious and the result of murder. The bigger issue? A private investigator hired by the family discovered this and not the police officer in charge of the investigation. This is where complaints against the police officer began to be filed. From the Office of the Independent Police Review Director to our very own OCPC where appeals are sought. 

According to the Ontario tribunal website, the OCPC had two divisions, one that is adjudicative and one that is investigative. The former deals with appeals of disciplinary matters, budgetary disputes and other functions while the latter deals with public complaints on the conduct of members within the police force. The hearing our blog had access to was an adjudicative one. The OCPC panel was hearing an appeal from the decision of a police disciplinary hearing for Officer Shawn Harrison. We were only able to recover records until November 2023 and by that point the board had not yet made a decision on this hearing. Bad news for those interested to hear the final verdict, spoiler alert; we do not know.

The mentioned OCPC website explained that the OCPC had the authority to confirm, vary or revoke a decision of the hearing officer. It also has the authority to replace the decision with one of its own or call for a new hearing to take place. Therefore, we can assume that three hundred years ago, the OCPC had decided on one of these options especially considering that the OCPC does not, according to its own website, resort to alternative dispute resolution due to its jurisdiction.

Shawn Harrison v Thunder Bay Police Services – OCPC Hearing:

This hearing began with a little bit of confusion, counsel for Shawn Harrison, the police officer, admitted to neglect on the part of his client but wanted to appeal the issue in order for the neglect charges to remain but in a much more constrained manner. The counsel for Debungee had a hard time with this but finally, they were able to see eye to eye on the matter and move on. David Butt, Mr. Harrison’s lawyer, rested his appeal on four arguments. He first argued that errors were made in the analysis of guilt in the charge of neglect of duty. Then he argued that there was too much reliance on unconscious racial bias. Mr. Butt admitted that there were huge discrepancies in how police officers treat cases involving Indigenous victims and criminals. He went as far as to suggest that systematic changes should be made. He ended this part of his argument by saying that while all that is true, we should not be over-extending this kind of analysis to every case. 

On one hand, racism is a rampant issue on the other it has nothing to do with this case. For us at the blog, this was a confusing argument, one that would definitely confuse even our own “Judicial 3000”. Alas, we move on to Mr. Butt’s third argument, he found that the verdicts his client had received were inconsistent. Fourth, he took issue with the penalty. 

At some point, Mr. Butt launches into an example to draw comparisons to the events at hand, at which point one of the panel members stops him and tells him that this example is not helpful and that she was not following it. In this way, the panel seemed involved and proactive, even paying attention to small details and arguments. Panel members would chime in when they found holes in the argument or untruths. It was in those moments that this process most resembled how our “Judicial 3000” machine operates, without bias and with an eye only to finding the truth. This was impressive for mere mortals. 

Are Human Tribunals Fair?

On the surface, the OCPC seems like a procedurally fair tribunal. Both sides were given the chance to speak, present their arguments and interject where their point of view was needed. As mentioned before, there was no decision made in this hearing that was available to us, but the members seemed to operate without bias, or at least without obvious and determinable bias. Further, 80% of the application and appeals that they receive is scheduled for a hearing within 90 days. Although for the modern reader who is used to the 30-minute turnaround time of the “Judicial 3000” this might seem like an eternity, 90 days was a fair window of time for complaints to be dealt with during the year 2023. Having access to timely decisions for legal problems was one of the hallmarks of a fair legal system in the 21st century. 

In terms of internet and media coverage (yes the internet was by 2023 invented and widely used), while Shawn Harrison’s conduct had been widely covered by various online news sources, no information could be found online by our team about this particular hearing. The OCPC itself is mentioned in a few recent news articles chronicling recent officers who have been subject to penalties. In most of the news articles we read the decision of the hearing officer which had been appealed was upheld by the OCPC. Aside from that though, while the time frame in history we are looking at was a period in which there were many calls to hold police officers accountable for racist behaviour, not much attention is given to this administrative board that does just that.  Perhaps, one explanation is that administrative remedies are of such a technical legal nature that even their existence is not known by most of the population of the state formally known as Canada. 

Tribunal Members:

We at the “Bob Loblaw’s Law Blog” thought it would be interesting for the reader to know more about the members who serve on this tribunal. Lest you forget that the OCPC is not a AI program and was actually operated by human beings who made the ultimate decision. Eleven humans, all with differing backgrounds, served on this tribunal. One Associate Chair, three Vice Chairs, five members, one Executive Chair and finally one alternative Executive Chair. Members are required to comply with procedural fairness, and natural justice requirements and to act impartially. Each member is required to sign a document promising that they will uphold the requirements of fairness. Members are also bound by the OCPC Rules of Practice. The members seem to come from a background of law and some but not all were involved with their community in various ways. For example, Sean Weir, the Executive Chair, was an elected Councillor of the Town of Oakville and a director of the Hospital in the town. Member Laura Hodgson was involved with Ottawa’s Centre for Refugee Action and Tungasuvvingat Inuit. Most of the members have been in their position since 2022 or 2023 and their terms will end within the next two to three years.

But let us move on now to another hearing we were able to get our hands on. Another important and contentious topic in the history of humankind is that of control over decisions made in relation to their own well-being in terms of physical and mental health. After all, the creatures that roamed the planet Earth 300 years ago were mortals who often experienced illnesses of different kinds and had to make decisions for themselves on the recovery path they desired. The issues that arose from disagreements between the individual and a healthcare professional about the capacity of the patient to consent were dealt with by the Consent and Capacity Board (CC Board).

Consent and Capacity Board Overview

The Hearing

            In the hearing that the writers at our blog were able to watch there were three members present. While they did not identify whether they were the legal expert, physician or member of the community, by the line of questioning each pursued it would be easy to make a guess. As advised by the rules of the Consent and Capacity Board we are not at liberty to share the names of the those involved. However, we can share with you that the hearing was concerning a patient in a Kingston mental health facility who had refused to take medication despite the fact that this doctor believed he was experiencing a manic episode and should be on medication. This November 6th, 2023, hearing was to determine whether the doctor would be allowed to proceed in prescribing medication to the patient without the patient’s consent. The patient himself was presented along with his legal representative, his doctor and three members of the Consent and Capacity Board. The doctor began the session by speaking about the client’s bi-polar diagnosis and mentioned previous examples of his manic behaviour. The doctor finished by asserting that his patient did not have the capacity to make decisions regarding his treatment. 

For his part, the patient’s lawyer tried to make holes in the doctor’s findings by questioning whether or not the doctor had taken the necessary steps to explain to the patient his situation and his required medication. The lawyer argued that the doctor had undermined his duty to fully explain the treatment process under the false assumption that the patient himself was not capable of consenting. The members did not interject during testimonies but then proceeded to ask each side appropriate and clarifying questions. It was obvious that public safety was an important concern for the Board. A lot of the questions they asked were regarding the patient’s past public displays of violence. 

Is the CC Board Procedurally Fair?

Then they began questioning the patient himself. This felt like a procedurally fair decision on the part of the tribunal members because it was obvious that the patient was frustrated by the fact that for most of the hearing, others were speaking on his behalf. He seemed happy to be able to speak for himself. Though he often went off-topic the members questioning him were very patient with him and took his words very seriously. The tribunal’s decision to have a doctor, a legal expert and a community member on the panel is also a very important step towards ensuring fairness. This way it is not the opinion and concerns of one professional group that dominates the line of questioning in each hearing. 

The CC Board seems to operate in a way that is procedurally fair in terms of access to justice, for example following an involuntary admission or when a patient is found to not have the capacity for decision-making, the patient can get an advisor from the Psychiatric Patient Advocate Office. Advisors from this office help explain the legal recourse available to the patient and they will complete the paperwork for a CC Board hearing. Based on information available to us from 2023 documents and websites it is obvious that the CC Board, more than the OCPC, is concerned about treating individuals who seek guidance through their procedure with fairness. This is important because the population that they help is particularly vulnerable to exploitation and unequal treatment. On average the tribunals determine the limits of the rights of citizens on a larger scale than courts do.[1] Therefore, fairness is a much more important consideration. 

In the CC Board, fairness is guaranteed by making sure that conference hearings are available, making sure that patients have access to legal representatives, and that there are interpreters available for those who need it.  

How is the CC Board Perceived?

As opposed to the previous tribunal, the Consent and Capacity Board receives a lot of media attention. Based on a few articles we perused, the general population's understanding is that the Consent and Capacity Board deals with really complicated disputes. It seems that a lot of the decisions, unlike the OCPC, are appealed and it falls on the courts to affirm the Board’s decision. Specifically, an appeal of a CC Board decision can be pursued at the Superior Court of Justice based on a question of fact or law.

As mentioned before, the CC Board is very strict about keeping information confidential, so the results of the hearing are not released to the public. However, from the way that the members were interacting with the patient in the hearing we can assume that they might decide that the patient does not have the capacity to make decisions regarding their treatment. The CC Board does not always make a decision themselves. According to the Consent and Capacity Board rules of practice s20.7; if all parties wish to resolve matters by dispute resolution, then the Board can make that order upon request.

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Communications Director, ACLU of Illinois

Emma Andersson, Deputy Director, Criminal Law Reform Project

March 23, 2021

As protesters filled the streets last summer to decry the tragic killings by police of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and countless others, they brought signs and slogans with them. Poster board and cardboard pieces were lifted into the air with firm demands scrawled across them: “Justice for George,” “#SayHerName,” “I Can’t Breathe,” and “No Justice, No Peace” were familiar phrases bobbing amongst the sea of activists. As the weeks stretched on, the movement catalyzed by the hideous killing of Floyd caught on video continued to grow, with millions of people taking to the streets. Among the signs, a more specific demand began to appear: Abolish qualified immunity.

Once an obscure legal doctrine, qualified immunity is now in the spotlight — and in the crosshairs of many activists and advocates nationwide. For decades, the doctrine has shielded police officers and other government employees from being held responsible for all sorts of malfeasance. Qualified immunity makes it nearly impossible for individuals to sue public officials by requiring proof that they violated “clearly established law.”

In a rare show of solidarity with protesters in cities like Minneapolis, New York, and Portland, courts and state legislatures began to take notice, too — in June, Colorado lawmakers passed a bill that gutted the doctrine’s power in state courts. Multiple lower federal court decisions have also acknowledged how qualified immunity functions more as absolute immunity, and shields police officers from accountability, with even a conservative Supreme Court justice calling the doctrine into question.

The ACLU is a part of the movement to end qualified immunity once and for all, through our work advancing legislation in statehouses, combating the use of the doctrine in court, and advocating for an end to qualified immunity on the federal level.

In the Statehouse

The brunt of law enforcement’s racial terror campaigns is felt by the Black and Brown communities that are forced to deal with outsized police presence every day. The fight to combat that harm is led by a coalition of grasstop groups that organize and advocate in city halls and statehouses across the country. In several states, including Minnesota, the ACLU has fought alongside these groups to advance reform through legislation.

Minnesota: The ACLU of Minnesota is working with the Institute for Justice to develop legislation that would bypass the effect of qualified immunity by making it easier for people to sue government agencies — not just individual officers — in state courts when police violate their rights. Additionally, the ACLU of Minnesota is advocating to reform the laws that allow officers like Derek Chauvin, who killed George Floyd and who had a long history of civilian complaints on his record, to keep committing violence against the community. Currently under Minnesota state law, civilian oversight boards cannot make findings of fact relating to a complaint against a police officer, impose disciplinary sanctions, or make binding recommendations. H.F. 905 would repeal the law that prevents civilian oversight boards from having these powers, allowing local governments to create empowered boards that can take tangible action against officers accused of misconduct. Removing this barrier at the local level is a first step toward independent, community-informed oversight of policing and public safety.

Illinois: After decades of unacceptable police abuse and horrors, current Illinois law still protects out of control officers from being held accountable for violating people’s constitutional rights. These protections do not serve good police officers; they do not serve our communities; they only serve bad apples in Illinois’ police ranks. A recent poll shows that 91 percent of Illinois voters are strongly supportive of legislative efforts that hold police accountable for misconduct and 69 percent of voters agree that reform is necessary now because of racial bias in policing. Reflecting this overwhelming public support, the ACLU of Illinois supports H.B. 1727 — the Bad Apples in Law Enforcement Accountability Act — which removes the protections of qualified immunity in state court so that police officers can be held accountable when they violate someone’s constitutional rights.

New Mexico: New Mexico has one of the highest rates of fatal police shootings in the country. The New Mexico Civil Rights Act creates an avenue for New Mexicans to bring claims for damages in state court against police officers and other public officials who violate the rights guaranteed to them under the New Mexico Constitution. The bill specifically prohibits the use of qualified immunity.

In the Courts

Last term, multiple petitions before the Supreme Court called into question whether qualified immunity should be limited or abolished altogether.

The court grouped three petitions together, including ours inBaxter v. Bracey, and then repeatedly delayed acting on them. It seemed possible that maybe the court was finally going to meaningfully tackle qualified immunity. Then, on June 15, 2020, mere weeks after Derek Chauvin killed George Floyd and millions of people flooded the streets to protest police brutality, the Supreme Court denied the petitions. Justice Thomas was the only one to write anything on the occasion of the court declining all the petitions; he wrote to protest the denial of certiorari in our case, Baxter. For a brief moment it looked like the cross-ideological coalition we are part of might have convinced four justices to take a case. Then the bubble burst.

Five months later, a new glimmer of hope emerged. In November 2020, the court granted, reversed, and remanded a qualified immunity decision out of the Fifth Circuit inTaylor v. Riojas. Trent Taylor was incarcerated in Texas and he spent six days in heinous conditions: The first cell where he was detained was covered almost floor to ceiling in human feces, and he was forced to sleep naked in sewage in the freezing cold in his second cell. The officers responsible for this gross violation were granted qualified immunity by the court, which reasoned that “[t]he law wasn’t clearly established” that “prisoners couldn’t be housed in cells teeming with human waste … for only six days.”

The Supreme Court disagreed: “No reasonable correctional officer could have concluded that, under the extreme circumstances of this case, it was constitutionally permissible to house Taylor in such deplorably unsanitary conditions for such an extended period of time.” As law professor Joanna Schwartz explains, Hope v. Pelzer is the only other case in which “the Supreme Court ruled that qualified immunity could be denied in the absence of a prior court opinion on point … Since 2002, the court had only paid lip service to the notion that qualified immunity can be defeated without a prior case on point.”

Only a few months later, the court did it again inMcCoy v. Alamu. McCoy was incarcerated in Texas when an officer attacked him for no reason. The Fifth Circuit granted qualified immunity based on its understanding that the defense is especially difficult to overcome in excessive force cases. But the Supreme Court granted McCoy’s petition, vacated the Fifth Circuit’s opinion, and remanded the case to the lower court with instructions to reconsider the case in light of Taylor.

Taylor and McCoy have ignited a debate among qualified immunity nerds (that’s a compliment), as Adam Liptak has reported. Professor Schwartz argues that “the court is indicating a change” and “appears to be sending a message that lower courts can deny qualified immunity for clear misconduct, even without a case with identical facts.” Jay Schweikert at the CATO Institute, with whom we have worked closely on qualified immunity reform efforts, believes “the Supreme Court has decided to forgo reconsideration of the doctrine in favor of small doctrinal clarifications.” Anya Bidwell and Patrick Jaicomo at the Institute for Justice are the most optimistic, characterizing these as the “early days in the reconsideration — if not ultimate rejection — of the court-created doctrine of qualified immunity.”

We’re very glad to see that there are cracks developing in the shield of qualified immunity. But these cracks are not nearly enough. The ACLU will continue to fight in court to see the doctrine weakened and ultimately dismantled, as we did recently in yet another horrific Fifth Circuit case.

One ongoing case that highlights both the absurdity of qualified immunity and the extent to which officials may go under its protection is Black Lives Matter D.C. v. Trump, the ACLU-DC’s class action lawsuit challenging the vicious and unprovoked attack on civil rights demonstrators in Lafayette Square last June. The defendants in the case were sued under Section 1983 and Bivens, which is another type of case where officers can use qualified immunity. From the Park Police officer who beat a journalist as she was escaping the protest, all the way to former Attorney General Bill Barr, they have all invoked qualified immunity to avoid liability for their misconduct.

In moving to dismiss our case, defendants have argued that their conduct cannot be “clearly established” as unconstitutional — thus defendants are shielded by qualified immunity — unless plaintiffs can point to a specific case involving “a presidential appearance, an alleged dispersal order emanating from the Attorney General himself, a city-wide curfew and emergency order” and more. They are wrong, but under qualified immunity, we can’t be sure a federal court will see it our way and refuse to countenance brutality with impunity.

In Congress

Qualified immunity reform is needed to ensure that police can be held accountable after they violate the constitution. But we also need reform on the front end that prevents police brutality before it happens. An important first step is to set clear national standards that require all police departments to adhere to common-sense limitations on use of force and best practices.

President Biden has already committed to the creation of a national, model use-of-force standard as one of his racial equity priorities. The ACLU is currently lobbying Congress to pass legislation that ensures this model standard truly conforms to the best practices in the field by embracing the principles set forth in the PEACE Act, which would permit officers to use force only when necessary, proportional, and as a last resort, after less extreme alternatives are exhausted. That standard would not only apply to federal agents, it would provide incentives to state and local police departments to adopt the rule.

Ayanna Pressley’s End Qualified Immunity Act would end qualified immunity for state and local actors.

Qualified immunity fosters an environment where government agents, including police, may feel empowered to violate people’s rights with the knowledge they will face few consequences. This erodes relationships with the community and diminishes the system’s credibility. Under qualified immunity, lives can be taken with impunity. It’s past time to heed the protesters’ signs, and end this doctrine once and for all.