Appeals Court Rules Newark Journalist Who was Wrongfully Arrested by Police is Entitled to Damages

Newark Police violated Roberto Lima's First Amendment rights

Roberto Lima & Baher Azmy

NEWARK — The United States Third Circuit Court of Appeals issued a ruling today holding that Newark journalist Roberto Lima is entitled to the entire amount of a monetary offer made by the City of Newark in a case stemming from his wrongful arrest in 2007, and that his attorneys are also entitled to now seek fees in addition to those monetary damages.

"The actions taken by Newark Police that day were a clear violation of Mr. Lima's First Amendment rights as a journalist," said Seton Hall Law School professor Baher Azmy, who served as a cooperating attorney for the ACLU-NJ. "Police cannot arrest innocent journalists to suppress stories that they may not like or may embarrass them."

Lima, the editor of the Brazilian Voice newspaper, was held by police in September 2007 after a photographer discovered and photographed a decomposed body covered by debris in the Ironbound section of Newark. The photographer notified Lima about the discovery, and Lima thereafter notified the police. After arriving at the scene, officers intimidated Lima, seized his camera and ordered him to turn over all copies of the photographs including originals. The officers at the scene were led by Samuel DeMaio, who was a deputy chief at the time. DeMaio currently serves as acting director of the Newark Police Department.

DeMaio ordered Lima not to publish the photos and told officers to physically seize his camera. While at the scene, DeMaio also demanded that the photographer disclose his immigration status, a demand for which DeMaio was later reprimanded by the state Attorney General's office which has banned any law enforcement official from inquiring about the immigration status of a crime witness or victim.

After Lima voluntarily gave a statement at the police station, he was handcuffed to a bench until he agreed to turn over all originals and copies of the photographs.

Lima expressed relief at the court's ruling. "I hope that the Newark Police has learned its lesson and trained its officers so that no journalist or citizen is ever bullied, intimidated or harassed the way I was," Lima said. "This case was about standing up for my constitutional rights as well as the rights of others - especially journalists."

Before filing suit in January 2008, Lima and his attorneys from the ACLU-NJ and the Seton Hall Center for Social Justice attempted to settle the matter, but the city refused.

In November 2009, the City of Newark made a formal "Offer of Judgment" to pay Lima $55,000 for the plaintiff's claims for relief against the city. But when Lima's attorneys filed an application for attorney's fees, the city balked and said the $55,000 offer included attorney's fees. The Court of Appeals today determined that Lima was entitled to the entire $55,000 as damages, and said a separate petition for attorney's fees can be filed.

"We wish it did not have to come to this," said ACLU-NJ Executive Director Deborah Jacobs. "If the city had acknowledged its officers' unconstitutional conduct and taken expedient steps to retrain officers, we never would have had to go to court. Now we can only hope that the city takes steps to ensure this never happens again."

Lima's case was also one of hundreds of allegations in the ACLU-NJ's 2010 petition to the Department of Justice asking it to investigate the Newark Police for civil rights violations.

ACLU-NJ Welcomes Changes to Attorney General’s Policy on Internal Affairs Complaints

Revised policy goes into effect for all law enforcement agencies today

NEWARK — The American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey (ACLU-NJ) welcomes the state’s revised internal affairs policy, which requires more accountability for police departments in dealing with complaints against police officers. The changes were announced by Attorney General Paula Dow in May and go into effect today.

The ACLU-NJ has been calling for greater oversight into how departments handle internal affairs complaints for years and worked with the attorney general to reshape the policy. This is the first time the policy has been revised since 2000.

"Policing. more than any other profession, depends on public trust to succeed," said Deborah Jacobs, executive director of the ACLU-NJ. "Accountability and transparency are central to an internal affairs system in which the public has faith. We are pleased that Attorney General Dow has taken steps to improve that relationship with the public."

In 2009, the ACLU-NJ surveyed more than 500 police departments statewide to see if they complied with the state's guidelines on handling complaints against officers. The ACLU-NJ called police departments to ask how a person could file a complaint; analyzed police internal affairs statistics from around the state and reviewed 50 internal affairs files from individuals who filed complaints. The results of its survey, "The Crisis Inside Police Internal Affairs," revealed that most police departments violated state policy on internal affairs by insisting that complaints be filed in person and refusing to accept anonymous complaints. It also revealed that getting a live person on the phone to take the complaint was difficult.

The ACLU-NJ commends the following changes to the state internal affairs policy:

• A requirement that agencies evaluate complaints to determine whether patterns, practices or trends of inappropriate behavior or conduct are developing in the agency. Under this new policy, data will not simply be collected — it will also be analyzed, which is important in identifying problematic officers or department policies.
• If a complaint against an officer is not sustained, the agency is required to send the complainant a letter with a brief explanation of why it was not sustained.
• Every law enforcement agency is required to notify the prosecutor's office when the agency has reason to question an officer's credibility based on a false report a pending court complaint, a court conviction, or a judicial finding.

These changes come on the tail of the Attorney General's decision, in September 2010, to investigate the extent to which police departments’ recordkeeping practices led to hundreds of internal affairs statistics being "dropped" in annual record keeping and reporting. The ACLU-NJ first revealed the record-keeping problems in its 2009 report, "The Crisis Inside Police Internal Affairs."

While these changes will contribute to better internal affairs systems, more is needed in the interest of transparency. For example, the state requires law enforcement agencies to periodically make public a synopsis of all complaints that result in a fine or suspension of 10 days or more, but it fails to require that the synopsis include the identity of the officer or the complainant.

The ACLU-NJ believes the names of all officers should be released and that all information about all records of discipline should be made public.

The ACLU-NJ plans to continue monitoring internal affairs operations in New Jersey and working with towns and counties to improve practices.

Related Content

• The Crisis Inside Police Internal Affairs (1mb PDF)
• Police Practices Issue Page

Confidential informant study reveals weaknesses in New Jersey police practices

Research led three counties to begin undertaking policy changes,
adding to ACLU-NJ's efforts to reform NJ's criminal justice system

NEWARK — The American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey and ACLU Criminal Law Reform Project have released a study today that examines the use of confidential informants in the state of New Jersey. The study, authored by John Jay College of Criminal Justice faculty, revealed inconsistent policies governing the use of confidential informants at all levels of government, which have led to violations of informants' rights and compromises in the integrity of criminal investigations.

"Because the practice of using informants in criminal investigations has such a long history with support from state laws and judicial decisions, we were surprised to find that the policy governing informant use in the state is so disorganized," said Professor Delores Jones-Brown, co-author of the report and a former Monmouth County Assistant Prosecutor. "Though our sample size was small, it was disturbing to find that half of the officers surveyed were unclear about the requirements for the proper use of informants."

Police departments across the country have come to rely on informants as a primary way to pursue drug investigations, but their improper use has led to serious problems. After seeing the sometimes-tragic outcomes in other states, including the deaths of innocent people, the ACLU-NJ in 2007 began to look into New Jersey's handling of informants, a group frequently utilized in law enforcement but rarely reported on in larger society. In some of those national cases, confidential informants gave false information under pressure, resulting in police busts of innocent people with guns drawn, sometimes with tragic results such as in the case of Kathryn Johnson, an elderly woman who was shot by an undercover officer in a botched drug raid in Georgia. In other instances, they lead to wrongful arrests, such as the arrest of 38 people in Tulia, Texas, who were rounded up for drug offenses based on information from a confidential informant. In other past cases, police departments have sent confidential informants into dangerous situations they never would have encountered otherwise, such as in the case of Rachel Hoffman, a 23-year-old who was murdered while serving as an informant in Florida.

The report analyzed information and perspectives provided by both law enforcement and citizens, shedding light for the first time on how New Jersey law enforcement agencies use confidential informants. In most cases, people become confidential informants when law enforcement agents offer to reduce their charges or sentences in exchange for assistance with other criminal investigations. However, without proper regulation, the nature of their relationships can lead to an array of problems including ethical violations, botched prosecutions, civil liberties violations and even loss of life.

The researchers discovered that some departments throughout New Jersey failed to put agreements in writing, circumvented search warrant requirements, used juveniles improperly, and insufficiently checked the reliability of information given by confidential informants, who can be motivated by financial incentives or fear of prosecution, among other reasons, to fabricate information. Worse, many departments reported their belief that no policies existed, including the mandatory protocols issued by the Attorney General. Other departments believed they were merely advisory.

In Lower Township, Cape May County, the mishandling of confidential informants resulted in two waves of case dismissals since research for the study began. In a 2010 Sussex County case, an informant fabricated evidence (giving police crushed drywall and claiming it was cocaine he bought from local dealers), with devastating consequences for those falsely accused of selling drugs.

The study's authors, Dr. Jones-Brown and Dr. Jon Shane, who is also a retired Newark Police Department captain, issued recommendations to create uniform policies at all levels and to thoroughly train officers and prosecutors. Under those recommendations, law enforcement agencies should always receive prosecutors' approval before using a confidential informant (who must be registered with the state), have written and signed agreements between law enforcement and the confidential informant, institute processes to approve or deny the use of informants, develop a protocol for establishing an informant's reliability, strictly limit the use of minors, impose strict recordkeeping rules, and, above all, train officers regularly.

In response to the report, at least three New Jersey counties - Morris, Salem and Cumberland - have already begun to reform their policies, starting after their review of an early draft.

"We couldn't be happier to see some of the changes taking place in these counties," said Deborah Jacobs, Executive Director for the ACLU of New Jersey. "We hope to work collaboratively with more counties, and the Attorney General, to see New Jersey adopt the most professional and effective practices for dealing with confidential informants."

The report is the latest ACLU-NJ examination of law enforcement conduct in the state. In May, eight months after the ACLU-NJ petitioned the Department of Justice to investigate allegations of systemic abuse by the Newark Police Department, the federal agency launched a probe into the department. Just days before that announcement, New Jersey Attorney General Paula Dow announced new reforms to the state's internal affairs policy based on the ACLU-NJ's recommendations, which will go into effect in July.

The ACLU-NJ's report on confidential informants can be found online, as well as more information relating to reforms of police in Newark, in Camden and the rest of the state.

ACLU Welcomes Decision to Investigate Newark Police Department

NEWARK — The American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey (ACLU-NJ) welcomed the announcement today that the U.S. Department of Justice has opened an investigation into the Newark Police Department’s reported patterns of abuse and misconduct. The Department of Justice’s decision to intervene was done so at the request of the ACLU-NJ, which documented the incidents of abuse in a petition filed in September 2010.

“We hope this investigation marks the beginning of a new chapter for the Newark Police Department,” said ACLU-NJ Executive Director Deborah Jacobs. “The recurrent problems in the Newark Police did not arise from one individual, or even a group of individuals, but from an inherited institutional culture of misconduct. We hope the Justice Department’s intervention promises a fresh start, with individual officers getting the training they need to renew the faith in police that Newark’s citizens need.”

The ACLU-NJ’s petition cited 418 serious, routine civil rights violations reported by citizens in a two-and-a-half year period, including false arrests, inconsistent discipline of officers, discrimination and, most egregiously, acts of violence against citizens, some of which resulted in injury and death.

In the face of these civil rights violations, the department’s deficient Internal Affairs Unit provided citizens with little recourse. Out of the 261 internal affairs complaints filed reporting serious police misconduct between 2008 and 2009, only one – alleging an improper search – was sustained. The ACLU-NJ documented police officer’s retaliation and threats to citizens making an internal affairs complaint, as well as discouragement from making complaints altogether.

After looking into the petition’s claims, the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division determined the situation in the Newark Police Department called for its involvement, based on a 1994 law allowing the Justice Department to intervene if a police department demonstrates a “pattern or practice” of violating the law or citizens’ constitutional rights.

The ACLU-NJ hopes the federal government will provide the initial oversight and guidance for the Newark Police Department to establish real reform, including an overhaul of internal affairs, more training for police officers, and new systems to identify and discipline problematic officers.

“The federal government has brought progress before to police departments struggling to break free of ingrained institutional acceptance of civil rights abuses,” said ACLU-NJ Policy Counsel Alexander Shalom. “We hope the Newark Police Department becomes another success story, built on a foundation of its renewed commitment to justice and equality.”

The ACLU-NJ has offered itself as a resource to the Department of Justice in the next stages of the investigative process, redoubling its own commitment to increasing accountability for the Newark Police and rebuilding the public’s trust in law enforcement.

The ACLU-NJ currently has two active civil rights cases pending against the Newark Police, one defending a newspaper publisher’s freedom of the press and the other defending a high school honor student's right to videotape the police in public.

ACLU-NJ Welcomes Report of Federal Investigation of Newark Police Department

NEWARK — The American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey (ACLU-NJ) welcomed a report in the May 8, 2011 edition of The Star-Ledger that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) will formally investigate the Newark Police Department’s (NPD) patterns of misconduct, which the ACLU-NJ documented in a September 2010 petition seeking federal intervention in the troubled police department.

"The ACLU-NJ first called for federal intervention in the Newark Police Department in 1967,” said Deborah Jacobs, ACLU-NJ executive director. “The announcement that the DOJ will bring its resources and expertise to our city and hold the NPD accountable marks a critical moment in our city's history. The cries of Newarkers have finally been heard.”

After the ACLU-NJ submitted its petition, the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division responded with concern over the number of civil rights violations the ACLU-NJ had found in public records between January 1, 2008 to July 1, 2010.

The ACLU-NJ found 418 serious, routine civil rights violations reported by citizens during that period, including false arrests, inconsistent discipline of problematic officers, discrimination against fellow officers and, most egregiously, acts of violence against citizens that have resulted in injury and death.

In the face of these civil rights violations, the department’s deficient Internal Affairs Unit provided citizens with little recourse. Out of the 261 internal affairs complaints filed reporting serious police misconduct between 2008 and 2009, only one – alleging an improper search – was sustained. The ACLU-NJ documented police officer’s retaliation and threats to citizens making an internal affairs complaint, as well as discouragement from making complaints altogether.

The ACLU-NJ hopes the federal government will provide oversight and guidance for the Newark Police Department to establish real reform, including an overhaul of internal affairs, more training for police officers, and new systems to identify and discipline problematic officers.

“The federal government has brought progress to other police departments struggling to break free of ingrained institutional acceptance of civil rights abuses,” Jacobs added. “We hope that Newark city officials will overcome their resistance to federal intervention and work productively with the DOJ so that the Newark Police Department becomes another success story, built on a foundation of its renewed commitment to justice and equality.”

The ACLU-NJ has offered itself as a resource to the DOJ in the next stages of the investigative process, redoubling its own commitment to increasing accountability for the Newark Police and rebuilding the public’s trust in law enforcement.

A 1994 law authorizes the DOJ to intervene if a police department demonstrates a “pattern or practice” of violating the law or citizens’ constitutional rights.

The ACLU-NJ currently has two active civil rights cases pending against the Newark Police, one defending a newspaper publisher’s freedom of the press and the other defending a high school honor student's right to videotape the police in public.

Newark Police Illegally Detain Honors Student Over Cellphone Footage

NEWARK, N.J. — The American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey (ACLU-NJ) and the Seton Hall Law School Center for Social Justice (CSJ) filed a lawsuit today against the Newark Police Department for illegally handcuffing and detaining a Newark high school honors student who captured video footage on her cellphone of officers responding to an incident on a New Jersey Transit bus.

The lawsuit (1674k PDF), alleges officers violated the constitutional rights of Khaliah Fitchette, 17, by arresting her, seizing her cellphone, and deleting the video footage. The search and seizure was illegal and violated the student’s right to free speech.

“Individuals at the highest levels of the Newark Police Department have continued to turn a blind eye to repeated, pervasive unlawful behavior by its officers,” said Seton Hall Law Professor Baher Azmy, who is representing Fitchette as a cooperating attorney for the ACLU-NJ, and has brought cases against the Newark Police Department in the past. “The abuse of the rights of Newark citizens will continue, unless the Newark Police Department finally confronts and implements serious reforms among its officers.”

Fitchette, an honors student and at the time, junior class president at University High School in Newark, was riding downtown from school on the afternoon of March 22, 2010. Soon after boarding the bus, the driver called Newark Police to attend to a man who had fallen on the floor several rows in front of Fitchette. When Newark Police Officers Noemi Maloon and Lloyd Thomas boarded the bus, Fitchette started to record the scene using the video capability of her cellphone. Fitchette was standing approximately 10 feet away and was not obstructing or interfering with police activity.

Maloon spotted Fitchette recording the scene and demanded she turn her phone off. Fitchette refused because she needed the phone on in case her mother needed to reach her. The officer then grabbed Fitchette by the arm and pulled her off the bus. During this seizure, Maloon stated, “Kids think they can do whatever they want.” She also stated that she didn’t want any footage of this public incident to go on the Internet.

Fitchette said she was startled by what was going on and asked if she was being arrested.

“I was confused by what was going on,” Fitchette said. “The police were treating me like a criminal even though I had done nothing but take a video of a man on the bus.”

The officers handcuffed Fitchette and put her in a patrol car. Officer Thomas seized Fitchette’s cellphone and deleted the video. Violating state law, the officers ignored Fitchette’s repeated pleas to call her mother. Instead, they drove her to a juvenile processing center then to an adult processing center, in order to charge her with a crime, even though she was a juvenile and they had no lawful basis to charge her. After the officers finally acknowledged they could not continue their prolonged detention, they dropped off a crying Fitchette at her mother’s workplace.

“I was scared,” said Fitchette. ”Because I was a junior and I was about to apply to college and I didn’t want a criminal record that I didn’t even deserve, to hold me back from applying.”

Deborah Jacobs, executive director of the ACLU-NJ, said incidents like this erode the public’s trust in the department. In September, the ACLU-NJ filed a petition with the U.S. Department of Justice, asking it to intervene and monitor the troubled department.

“This is another example of egregious misconduct by the Newark Police Department,” Jacobs said. “We have already filed a petition documenting 418 incidents of beatings, false arrests, retaliation and other misconduct by Newark Police. This case is another reason why we desperately need federal intervention from the U.S. Department of Justice.”

The ACLU has challenged illegal police confiscations of cameras, a problem growing more prevalent across the country, including in New Jersey. In 2008, the ACLU-NJ and the CSJ represented Roberto Lima, editor of the Brazilian Voice newspaper, who had been arrested and held in custody by Newark police officers until he relinquished photos of a dead body in an alley taken by his publication. The ACLU-NJ also supported a CBS news camera man who was taken into custody for taking video of an anti-violence rally.

Counsel for Fitchette includes Seton Hall Law School students Dan Bause, William Conaboy, Mark Keogh and Doug Nelson.

Fitchette’s case is captioned Phillips v. City of Newark.

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• From the Back of the Bus to the Back of a Police Car

ACLU-NJ and City of Newark Reach Agreement on Circus Protest Lawsuit

NEWARK, N.J. — As the circus comes to town this week, free speech comes right behind.

The American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey (ACLU-NJ) and the City of Newark have reached a settlement that vindicates the rights of animal welfare activist Nicholas Botti, who was arrested nearly a year ago, while protesting the treatment of animals by Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. Botti was standing on a public sidewalk outside of the Prudential Center when he was arrested on March 7, 2010 – the last time the circus was in town.

“Most people don’t know how cruelly the animals are treated, and if people have the right to attend the circus, we should have the right to oppose it,” said Botti. “Looking back, it was futile to tell the police we weren’t breaking any laws, but if my experience means the police don't infringe on the rights of other people for speaking their minds, then it is a victory for both civil rights and animal rights.”

On the day of Botti’s arrest, police officers corralled a group of 7 animal-welfare advocates from the sidewalk in front of the Prudential Center to a distant “protest zone,” where sparse foot traffic exposed fewer people to their signs and literature.

As part of the agreement, the City of Newark will train all police officers and city employees responsible for special event permits in Newark’s free-speech policies every six months. The city has an ordinance that requires a permit for free speech activities only when the number of people reaches 50.

“Any policy can only be as good as its enforcement,” said ACLU-NJ Legal Director Ed Barocas. “Over the years we’ve helped Newark build strong free speech policies, and with new emphasis on teaching those policies, they’ll be even stronger.”

The incident last year unfolded when Botti and another activist moved from the fairly isolated “protest zone” to the intersection of Mulberry Street and Edison Place, diagonally across from the arena, where their signs could be seen more readily. Even though neither Botti nor his sign — which read “This is Ringling Baby Elephant Training” next to an image of a prodded elephant — blocked traffic, police arrested him on charges of obstructing the sidewalk and failing to move when ordered by police.

The city requires a permit only when demonstrations exceed 50 participants — much greater than the number of advocates who joined Botti last year.

“We’re gratified that Newark not only recognized the importance of enforcing its free speech ordinances, but responded quickly to institute it,” said Bennet Zurofsky, the attorney who represented Botti for the ACLU-NJ.

The complaint, captioned Nicholas Botti v. City of Newark, along with the settlement order (454k PDF) and past ACLU-NJ work in Newark regarding free speech, can be read online.

ACLU-NJ Circus Suit Makes Free Speech the Elephant in Room

NEWARK, N.J. — The American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey’s (ACLU-NJ) has filed suit today against the City of Newark for its unconstitutional arrest of an animal welfare advocate while he was exercising his First Amendment right to protest on a public sidewalk outside of the Prudential Center.

The complaint, filed in Superior Court in Essex County, charges Newark Police violated Nicholas Botti’s rights when they refused to allow him to stand on a public sidewalk with a sign depicting the prodding of an elephant next to the words, “This is Ringling Baby Elephant Training.” Botti, a resident of Atlantic Highlands was arrested on March 7, 2010 when the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus was in town.

“Botti was standing on a public sidewalk, exercising his Constitutionally-protected free speech,” said Bennet Zurofsky, who is representing Botti on behalf of the ACLU-NJ. “He was not blocking the sidewalk, nor was he blocking pedestrian traffic. If he can get arrested for standing on a sidewalk with a sign, what’s to stop Newark Police from arresting anyone else who is doing the same?”

Botti and seven other animal welfare advocates distributed leaflets opposing the treatment of animals by Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. When they arrived at the center, police corralled them into a designated “protest zone” far from the arena, in an area that saw significantly less pedestrian traffic than the front of the center.

When Botti asked a Newark Police lieutenant what law required the protesters to stand in a protest zone, the officer replied, “My law.”

Although the City of Newark does not have specific written guidelines for political activities in front of stadiums, arenas, or other public venues, it does have an ordinance requiring a permit to hold demonstrations with more than 50 people – a number much greater than the animal welfare activists at the Prudential Center the day of Botti’s arrest.

Botti and another activist moved from the designated zone to the intersection of Mulberry Street and Edison Place diagonally across the street from the arena, where their signs could be seen more readily. When Botti refused to return to the designated zone, police arrested him on charges of obstructing the sidewalk and failing to move when ordered by police, even though neither he nor his sign were blocking traffic.

“Standing on a public sidewalk holding up a sign, irrespective of content, is basic free speech,” said Botti. “The fact that the police arrested me for blocking a sidewalk and didn’t arrest, or even address, the street vendor standing right beside me on the sidewalk shows how unfair it is to single out just the people who speak up as targets.”

The ACLU-NJ has challenged the City of Newark a number of times over impediments to free speech. In 2004, it successfully challenged a city requirement for all groups to get the police chief’s permission before distributing information and to secure a $1 million insurance policy before holding a march. In 2008, the city passed an ordinance ensuring that basic free speech activities would not be subject to the insurance requirement.

The complaint is captioned Nicholas Botti v. City of Newark.

Police Accountability Day Takes ACLU-NJ to the Streets

NEWARK — The American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey will empower New Jersey citizens by distributing information about our rights when confronted with police misconduct or abuse at New Jersey rail hubs today. The organization also submitted supplemental information to the petition it filed last month with the Department of Justice detailing additional misconduct in the Newark Police, as well as a petition from residents of Newark in support of federal investigation.

"Our top priority for today is educating citizens about their rights when confronted by police misconduct," said Deborah Jacobs, executive director for the ACLU-NJ. "It's essential that we exercise our rights - it's use them or lose them."

To help citizens of New Jersey prevent police abuse and confront it as it happens, volunteers from the ACLU-NJ will distribute “know your rights” cards at heavily trafficked train stations in Newark, New Brunswick, Princeton and Hoboken during morning and afternoon rush hours.

Each year the ACLU-NJ distributes approximately 12,000 of the wallet-size resources, known as bust cards, and posts them in English (1mb PDF), Spanish (1mb PDF) and Portuguese (1.3mb PDF) on its website (www.aclu-nj.org). The organization regularly holds forums and workshops throughout the state educating people about their rights.

Today's bust-card blitz is part of coordinated ACLU-NJ efforts to bring oversight to New Jersey's police, including advocacy to reform the Newark Police Department, the state's largest municipal department. The ACLU-NJ filed a supplemental petition to the DOJ (82k PDF) adding new allegations of misconduct the organization has found since filing a petition with the Department of Justice last month.

Since filing the petition Sept. 9, the ACLU-NJ learned of 13 more lawsuits filed during the petition's original study period, between Jan. 2008 and July 2010, bringing the total number of suits filed during that time to 64. Since July, citizens have filed at least three more lawsuits alleging police misconduct, and two officers have had criminal charges filed against them.

Since the ACLU-NJ submitted its petition, the taxpayer bill for case settlements continues to rise. Ramon Guzman received a settlement of $300,000, bringing the settlements paid by city taxpayers for police misconduct to more than $5,000,000 over the past three years. Guzman, who could not read English, was coerced into signing a false confession admitting to crimes he did not commit and spent 10 months in jail before his charges were dismissed.

Further bolstering the original petition, Newark community activists today "submitted a petition of their own", with 402 signatures calling for federal intervention.

"We hope the Department of Justice will hear and heed our pleas for help," said Dadisi Sanyika, Political Action Director of the Newark Unit of the New Jersey NAACP.

Flavio Komuves, senior counsel of the ACLU of New Jersey, said that the new incidents described in the supplemental petition support the ongoing need for federal intervention.

"The new data show that the NPD is beset with serious and systemic problems that need to be addressed through federal help and an independent monitor," Komuves said. He added that one of the reforms touted by the NPD, an early warning system for potentially troublesome officers, has been put on hold while the police union pursues a grievance about the matter.

"Even the officers' resistance to a performance-monitoring program speaks volumes about the ingrained lack of accountability in the NPD," Komuves added.

The ACLU advocates for best practices in policing to prevent the abuse of citizens. The ACLU also frequently represents police officers (44k PDF) whose civil liberties have been violated.

ACLU Files Suit Against Camden Police Drug-Planting

Case Highlights Urgent Need For Systemic Reforms

CAMDEN, NJ — The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of New Jersey today announced the filing of a lawsuit on behalf of an innocent Camden, New Jersey man jailed for more than a year as the result of drugs planted on him by police officers later implicated in a wide-scale drug-planting conspiracy affecting nearly 200 other Camden residents.

Joel Barnes was at a friend's house in August 2008 when Camden police officers Robert Bayard and Antonio Figueroa entered the friend's home without a search warrant, detained Barnes, demanded information from him that he did not have, and then arrested him for unlawful possession of a controlled substance after planting drugs on him.

Earlier this year, Camden police officers Kevin Michael Parry and Jason Stetser, also at the scene at the time of Barnes' arrest, pleaded guilty to numerous federal charges, including conspiring to deprive others of their civil rights. Parry admitted to a federal judge in March that he and several other Camden police officers, including Stetser, Figueroa and Bayard, planted drugs on innocent people. The officers threatened to arrest individuals on charges related to that planted evidence if they refused to implicate themselves in crimes.

"Planting evidence on innocent people in order to send them to prison is one of the most serious forms of police misconduct, and police who engage in such behavior must be held accountable," said Edward Barocas, Legal Director of the ACLU of New Jersey. "Mr. Barnes deserves to be compensated for the year of his life now lost forever and for the trauma he suffered at the hands of these corrupt officers."

After Figueroa and Bayard entered his friend's house on August 2, 2008, police handcuffed and unlawfully detained Barnes in a van outside the friend's home for more than an hour despite not being in possession of any illegal drugs or contraband. Every so often, Figueroa would return to the van and ask Barnes, "Where's the shit at?" Surmising that Figueroa was referring to controlled substances, Barnes truthfully responded that he was unaware of any drugs in the house.

Figueroa then pulled out a bag containing drugs and said, "Tell us where the shit's at and we'll make this disappear." Barnes was told that the drugs in the bag would carry much more serious criminal charges than any drugs that might be found and that he would receive a shorter period of incarceration if he told police the location of any drugs potentially in the house. But because Barnes could only truthfully say that he knew of no drugs in the house, he was arrested for unlawful possession of a controlled substance, unlawful possession of a controlled substance with an intent to distribute the substance, and unlawful possession of a controlled substance within 1,000 feet of a school zone - charges that ordinarily carry between 10 and 20 years imprisonment.

"I felt helpless and didn't know what to do," said Barnes. "I knew I hadn't done anything wrong, but I also knew that the officers had all of the power and I had none. It's disturbing that the police officers who are supposed to protect the community were the ones breaking the law, misusing their power, and abusing so many innocent people."

Barnes initially pleaded not guilty to all of the charges against him but, fearing a jury would be far more likely to believe the officers' testimony than his own truthful testimony, and not wanting to risk spending his remaining youth in prison, he ultimately pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful drug possession within 1,000 feet of a school zone. Barnes entered the Camden County Jail on April 17, 2009. However, after Parry and Stetser pleaded guilty to the criminal charges against them, the conviction against Barnes was vacated and he walked out of custody freed on June 8, 2010 - having served one year, one month and 24 days in incarceration.

"The plight of Mr. Barnes highlights the urgent need for far-reaching and systemic reforms in the Camden Police Department," said Jay Rorty, Director of the ACLU Criminal Law Reform Project. "Had there been proper supervision, Camden's police officers would not have been able to plant drugs on Camden residents in the first place. The public's faith in the fairness of the criminal process rests on the integrity of police officers. Concrete steps need to be taken immediately in order to restore the public's trust in its police force."

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• Barnes - Complaint
• Event: Sep 16, 2010 Stop Police Misconduct in Camden (Camden)