Excessive use of force by law enforcement authorities has been a hot topic of debate across the United States for decades, particularly in the wake of the murder of George Floyd in 2020. Unfortunately, despite substantial shifts in public opinion regarding police conduct and misconduct nationwide, taking effective legal action against an officer who has unlawfully harmed you can still be very complicated in practice, especially without help from seasoned legal counsel.
You have various rights under both federal and state law, which law enforcement authorities cannot infringe under any circumstances, and a Summerlin police brutality lawyer could help you file suit if they are. With the experienced injury attorneys at Shook & Stone on your side, you will have far better chances of securing the restitution and justice you deserve than you would ever likely have trying to pursue a claim like this on your own.
Police officers in Summerlin, Rhodes Ranch, Sovana, Sun City, and throughout the state of Nevada have a significant amount of legal leeway when it comes to using force to perform the duties of their jobs. Broadly speaking, police officers can legally use deadly force when:
Injuries—fatal or otherwise—caused by an officer’s actions under such circumstances may not qualify as valid grounds for civil litigation.
That said, police officers also must respect the legal and constitutional rights of Nevada residents, including their rights to:
Anyone who suffers injury because a police officer failed to respect these rights should speak with our Summerlin police brutality attorneys about possible legal action.
When you are injured through a police officer’s unlawful use of force or some other violation of your rights, you may have a few different options for pursuing legal action against them, depending on exactly what the officer in question did. Most of the time, cases like this will proceed as civil tort claims at the state level built around an allegation that a police officer injured you as a direct result of illegal misconduct, much like you might sue a motor vehicle driver who injured you in a wreck which they caused by breaking a traffic law.
If one of the rights guaranteed to you under the U.S. Constitution was violated through an act of police brutality, though, you may be able to file suit against a Summerlin police officer in federal court through a Section 1983 claim. Our lawyers could explain this and other possible paths towards financial recovery in more detail during a free and confidential consultation.
While police officers play an important role in maintaining modern society, they can—and all too often do—overstep their legal bounds while performing that role. If a law enforcement authority injures you while acting unlawfully in this way, they may hold civil and even criminal liability for your harm.
Achieving success through this sort of legal claim will be much easier with the support of a Summerlin police brutality lawyer from Shook & Stone. Call today to learn more.