2021 NEWS ARCHIVE
CLICK HERE TO NAVIGATE TO CURRENT NEWS PAGE
November 18, 2021
shanies law achieves historic exoneration for muhammad a. aziz and khalil islam
Shanies Law and co-counsel Innocence Project secured the historic and significant exoneration of Muhammad A. Aziz and the late Khalil Islam, two men wrongfully convicted of the murder of Malcolm X in 1965. The event was covered by all major news media organizations. Shanies Law and Innocence Project released a joint statement about the milestone exoneration.
October 5, 2021
shanies law settles georgia transgender inmate death case for record $2.2 million
Shanies Law and co-counsel the ACLU of Georgia reached a record-setting settlement in a federal civil rights action arising from the 2017 hanging death of Jenna Mitchell, a young, transgender woman incarcerated at Valdosta State Prison in Georgia. CNN’s breaking news story quoted David Shanies as calling the state’s “superficial” investigation “shocking and inexcusable.” Shanies described the case, in which “guards stood by and let a person die in front of their eyes,” as “deeply unsettling.” Jenna’s family called for investigation by the Georgia Attorney General and United States Justice Department. The settlement came two weeks after the Justice Department launched a civil rights investigation into conditions at Georgia state prisons.
March 30, 2021
shanies law WINS SECOND CIRCUIT APPEAL, REVERSAL OF SUMMARY JUDGMENT DISMISSAL
Shanies Law won a decisive victory at the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in a police excessive force case, Ketcham v. City of Mount Vernon, 992 F.3d 144 (2d Cir. 2021). The Second Circuit reversed the district court’s grant of summary judgment, rejecting both the district court’s fact-finding and its ruling that the plaintiff’s injuries were “de minimis” as a matter of law. Importantly, the Second Circuit repudiated “a line of district court cases” dismissing excessive force claims based on what certain courts deemed “de minimis” injuries, reaffirming the law that a police officer violates the constitution by using unreasonable force, even in the absence of what a court deems “serious injury.” David Shanies argued the case and briefed the appeal together with Deborah Francois and Joel Wertheimer.
APPELLATE VICTORY
United States Court of Appeals
for the Second Circuit
January 7, 2021
shanies law achieves historic settlement for rikers island inmate death
Shanies Law made history by finalizing a settlement of the case of Layleen Polanco, an Afro-Latinx, transgender woman who died in solitary confinement on New York City’s Rikers Island jail complex. The Polanco case received international attention and led to the Mayor Bill de Blasio’s announcement that the Department of Correction will end the practice of solitary confinement in New York City.
The 5.9 million dollar settlement is the largest ever in the case of an inmate death in New York City.
