Civil Rights
Cases that shaped civil rights law
Attorneys at Spinella & Associates have brought and won important cases that have shaped civil rights law in areas such as preventing jail suicide, curbing excessive use of force and deadly force by police officers and departments, ensuring that prisons are properly designed to promote the health and safety of prisoners, discouraging illegal and overzealous searches of residential dwellings, and safeguarding against illegal stops, arrests and searches of citizens. The attorneys at Spinella & Associates have exposed department-wide policies that have served to encourage and promote constitutional violations of citizens throughout the state.
Often attorneys who represent defendants accused of crimes are not well-versed on how criminal case strategy and disposition relates to the potential success or failure of a related police misconduct case. That is one reason why many attorneys who believe that their clients' civil rights were violated consult with Spinella & Associates early on, before they take significant action in the criminal case in order to discuss potential ramifications in a subsequent civil rights action. Additionally, sometimes it becomes strategically expedient in the criminal case to file a meritorious civil rights suit while the criminal case is pending. This action is taken as a method of obtaining discovery, which is otherwise unobtainable in a criminal case. Criminal attorneys who consult with Spinella & Associates on such topics receive important, timely and useful advice.