New York Civil Rights
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THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1871
The Civil Rights Act of 1871 is codified in Title 42, Section 1983
of The United States Code (42 U.S.C. §1983). It provides as follows:
"Every person who, under color of any statute, ordinance,
regulation, custom, or usage, of any State or Territory or the
District of Columbia, subjects, or causes to be subjected, any
citizen of the United States or other person within the jurisdiction
thereof to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities
secured by the Constitution and laws, shall be liable to the party
injured in an action at law, suit in equity, or other proper
proceeding for redress, except that in any action brought against a
judicial officer for an act or omission taken in such officer’s
judicial capacity, injunctive relief shall not be granted unless a
declaratory decree was violated or declaratory relief was
unavailable. For the purposes of this section, any Act of Congress
applicable exclusively to the District of Columbia shall be
considered to be a statute of the District of Columbia."
To prevail in a civil rights action under §1983, plaintiff must
establish that defendants deprived decedent of a right secured by
the constitution or laws of the United States and that such
deprivation was committed by person(s) acting under color of state
law. Officially promulgated ordinances, regulations and departmental
directives give rise to municipal liability under section 1983 if
such policies and decisions lead to a deprivation of constitutional
rights. Municipalities are liable under section 1983 for de facto
policies or practices which engender constitutional deprivation;
informal actions, if they reflect general policy, custom, practice
or pattern of official conduct which even tacitly encourage conduct
depriving individuals of their constitutional rights satisfies
section 1983 standards.
The Case of Amadou Diallo
was handled by Gair, Gair, Conason, Steigman
& Mackauf
Gair, Gair, Conason, Steigman & Mackauf enjoys a national reputation
in the area of civil rights in connection with
police misconduct.
One of the firm's most notable cases in this area was heading up
the team representing the Diallo family for the
wrongful death of their son Amadou who was shot at 41 times by members
of the New York City Police Department's Street Crimes Unit.
The city of New York agreed to pay $3 million to the family of
Amadou Diallo. This amount is the largest amount that has ever been paid by the
city of New York in a wrongful-death action for the
death of a single individual with no dependents.
Anthony Gair, was the
partner in charge of the Diallo litigation.
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