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Hartford Connecticut Civil Rights Firm
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Connecticut Civil Rights Attorneys
Connecticut Lawyers specializing in Civil Rights
CLAIMS INVOLVING LAW ENFORCEMENT / OFFICIAL MISCONDUCT
Attorney A. Paul Spinella began his civil rights practice nearly 30 years ago as a young criminal defense lawyer representing clients subjected to illegal police conduct. As a result Spinella & Associates are experienced trial attorneys who have special experience in the area of law enforcement misconduct and civil rights litigation. Spinella & Associates have brought well over 100 Connecticut police misconduct cases against various police departments throughout Connecticut as well as numerous claims against State Marshals, correctional officials, prosecutors, state police and municipal officers, and law enforcement officials of all kinds when necessary to vindicate abuse of citizens.
Law enforcement officers are like the rest of us. Most are fair and competent, but a small number are not. Unfortunately, the minority can cause a great deal of damage to the public they are chartered to protect. You may, in fact, be entitled to protection and compensation under our nation's civil rights laws, which appoint private attorneys as public attorneys general to ensure that the rights of private citizens are not violated by public officials.
Spinella & Associates have won numerous significant jury verdicts and obtained countless settlements in cases involving police and municipal misconduct. They are known throughout Connecticut as having special experience in such cases and in fighting especially hard to vindicate the rights of people who have been the subject of such misconduct. These civil rights attorneys make full use of the existing federal civil rights statutes in pursuing, vindicating and deterring police and municipal misconduct.
As such, Connecticut criminal attorneys, who do not handle official misconduct cases themselves, refer such claims on a regular basis to Spinella & Associates. Police claims are routinely referred early on since it is important that experienced Connecticut police misconduct attorneys work hand in hand with the criminal attorneys on a particular case so that the manner in which the criminal case is handled will not jeopardize a successful outcome in the related subsequent civil case. Moreover, early referral of police cases frequently helps aid in a successful outcome in the criminal case.
In addition to bringing misconduct cases on the part of the plaintiffs harmed by the public officials, Spinella & Associates lawyers have also represented numerous police officers in employment and civil rights matters. Spinella & Associates strive to do everything within their power to ensure that the average citizen who is a victim of a civil rights violation has a place to go to make the violator pay.
OTHER CIVIL RIGHTS AREAS OF PRACTICE
Over the years Spinella & Associates as expanded their civil rights practice to include a wide range of matters involving constitutional violations of every kind.
For example, we are presently handling cases involving wrongful imprisonment on behalf of citizens incarcerated illegally for lengthy prison terms; challenges to the entire system of money bail on behalf of wrongfully imprisoned pretrial detainees; illegal home invasion claims involving numerous homeowners by building officials; and land use litigation matters involving various issues such as a pending claim on behalf of hundreds of homeowners denied full-time use of vacation homes.
Over their past years of practice, Attorneys at Spinella & Associates have brought and won important cases that have shaped Connecticut 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 civil rights attorneys at Spinella & Associates have exposed department-wide policies that have served to encourage and promote constitutional violations of citizens throughout the state.
Our civil rights practice continues to grow as this area of practice becomes increasingly specialized with few competent attorneys dedicated to this area of the law which requires a strong belief that the law is a noble profession necessary to ensure civil liberties and not merely a business. A few representative civil rights cases selected from the hundreds handled by our firm are described under the "Firm Cases" section of this website.