As a native Asian-American New Yorker who has been advocating for police accountability for almost a decade, I am conflicted and have mixed feelings about the police shooting of Akai Gurley and the criminal charges filed against former NYPD Officer Peter Liang. On one hand, if I praise the jury for holding Liang accountable for… Read More
The 2016 Presidential Election marks a turning point on the nation’s view on police brutality. Historically, the issue of police reform is rarely covered during presidential debates. With increased coverage of national police misconduct scandals and Black Lives Matter demonstrations, Americans have become more skeptical of law enforcement and are demanding a national conversation about… Read More
Police violence will end only when there are real consequences for bad cops – not just in the most extreme cases, but in all of the cases of unjustified police brutality. Unwarranted police violence happens regularly, but there are almost never any employment consequences for the officers. This is because in most cities, two types… Read More
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia passed away over the weekend. In a non-traditional sort of eulogy, rather than talking about Justice Scalia directly, I’d like to remember Justice Scalia by telling you about Troy Davis and Justice Scalia’s adherence to his principles, including his firmly held belief that the Constitution permits the execution of innocent… Read More
Loevy & Loevy is pleased to announce that Heather Donnell, Elizabeth Mazur, Anand Swaminathan, and Elizabeth Wang have been named partners at the firm. Heather Donnell joined Loevy & Loevy in 2010 and concentrates her practice on wrongful convictions and police misconduct. Her compassion and advocacy skills have earned her a strong reputation in the legal… Read More
Many of the important justice issues discussed here –police brutality, wrongful convictions, mistreatment in prison, and mass incarceration – are magnified when the justice system encounters people with mental illness. On every level, our criminal justice system fails the mentally ill. The results are beyond appalling. Let’s consider it step by step. Police encounters… Read More
In the aftermath of highly publicized police shootings, a number of states around the country have enacted reforms requiring special prosecutors to investigate police shootings, and many other states are considering them. Chicago, more so than any other jurisdiction, needs to implement this reform. The demand for special prosecutors is a result of the following… Read More
False confessions are more common than people think. Exoneration work and DNA testing reveal that police-induced false confessions are one of the leading causes of wrongful convictions of the innocent. More than 1 out of 4 people wrongfully convicted, but later exonerated by DNA, made false confessions or gave false incriminating statements. That’s astonishing. Given… Read More
