Overview
Civil Rights and Police Misconduct Lawyers | Romanucci & Blandin
The United States Constitution guarantees civil rights for all – regardless of color, creed or any other factor that makes us all individuals. Civil rights litigation stands up for and protects the rights the law guarantees all people, including freedom from 14th amendment due process violations, unreasonable searches, false imprisonment, malicious prosecution, excessive use of force, wrongful death or sexual assault. Unfortunately, violations of the law do occur during some encounters with law enforcement officers, and when they do, victims deserve justice. Romanucci & Blandin has significant experience with civil rights and police misconduct lawsuits and we have deep expertise and understanding of the challenges and issues involved.
Your civil rights or police misconduct claim
With headquarters in Chicago, the national civil rights and police misconduct attorneys at Romanucci & Blandin know the damage and devastation that can be caused when someone’s constitutional rights are violated by those who are supposed to protect and serve. Our team has experience and success bringing justice to clients in some of the country’s most prolific cases, including being on the legal team representing the family of George Floyd. The attorneys at Romanucci & Blandin know how to navigate these sensitive and often high-profile cases bringing justice to those involved.
National experience and results in police misconduct matters
At Romanucci & Blandin, we approach a civil rights or police misconduct claim as a way to hold an individual or institution financially accountable and responsible for the physical and emotional and even economic damages that have occurred. In too many cases, encounters with law enforcement can end tragically. In some cases, the officer(s) involved in police misconduct or excessive force cases may face criminal charges, but with or without those charges, victims can move forward with civil litigation, in an effort to receive financial compensation for what happened.
Our law firm has a team of attorneys and staff who have many years of experience with civil rights and police misconduct litigation. Our civil rights and police misconduct legal team includes partners who guide the process and share their deep knowledge of these lawsuits. Each client and each situation is different, and your claim is treated with great care and respect as the team investigates what happened and determines the best path to justice for you.
We know exactly what to do to litigate your civil rights or police misconduct case. We will obtain all necessary background information on the officer or officers involved and, if appropriate investigate the municipal or organizational history, training or patterns and practices that may have played a role. Holding municipalities accountable for their officers’ conduct under a 42 U.S.C. §1983 Monell claim is an important part of civil rights law, and an area our team knows very well. We find the records, interview witnesses, utilize police and medical experts and prepare thoroughly and meticulously for your case. Ultimately, our aim is to obtain the most equitable compensation possible so that you and your loved ones can move on with your life.
Managing media in police misconduct cases
In some cases, victims of police misconduct or their families are thrust into the media spotlight, during a very stressful and emotional time. The team at Romanucci & Blandin has deep experience navigating the media for clients, managing the process and making sure messaging is strategic and protective of the legal case. Our expert, in-house communications team includes former journalists and crisis strategists who work closely with the legal team, help prepare clients for media interviews when necessary and understand the complexities of local, national and international press. Not all situations, cases or clients involve media activity and each client has a unique path to justice.
Our results for civil rights cases and police misconduct cases
The results we have achieved in civil rights or police misconduct cases are a testament to our team’s fierce dedication to clients.
Our results speak for themselves. A number of our civil rights and police misconduct verdicts and settlements have set records, achieving the largest dollar amounts for cases of their kind. Whether your case goes to trial or reaches a mediated settlement, our civil rights and police misconduct lawyers have the expertise and experience to be successful.
From police brutality to civil rights violations, racial profiling in a traffic stop to false imprisonment, our team knows how the system works, how police departments, municipalities, local courts and federal courts operate, and what judges, juries or mediators need to see to understand your claim.
Justice beyond a verdict or settlement: change in laws
At Romanucci & Blandin, we are committed to justice for our clients both in and out of the courtrooms. We are active in creating legislative change to stem or stop the problems in our community that have impacted our clients. This means engaging with lawmakers, advocacy groups and even testifying in front of legislators to share our clients stories and create change.
We have a history of being involved in police reform issues on state and national levels, including advocacy for the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. Following the murder of George Floyd, our Founding Partner Antonio Romanucci and Civil Rights Attorney Benjamin Crump co-authored a whitepaper on police reform initiatives that detailed their recommendations for creating greater transparency and accountability in police departments around the country.
Our civil rights attorneys are also actively involved in legislative reform in the correctional system, as well. A bill to reform Illinois state law related to unconstitutional practices in solitary confinement is named after our client, Anthony Gay, who spent more than 20 traumatic years in isolation while not receiving proper healthcare for a mental health condition. It is our fervent hope that our advocacy efforts bring much needed change to civil rights law for all citizens.
Types of civil rights and police misconduct claims
The following are some of the types of civil rights and police misconduct cases we handle for our clients:
- Deadly or wrongful shooting
- Excessive force
- False arrest
- Police chases
- Taser injury or death
- Unreasonable searches and seizures
- Wrongful convictions
Free consultation on your case by Chicago-based civil rights and police misconduct attorneys
The civil rights and police misconduct attorneys at Romanucci & Blandin have proven success in these types of cases. Please contact our office at Info@rblaw.net, 312-458-1000 or click here for a free evaluation of your civil rights or police misconduct case. There is never a fee until you are compensated for your injuries at the end of the case.
Experience
Mass Tort & Class Actions
Newsroom
In the News
Press Releases
Blog Posts
Articles
Videos
January 12, 2023More than 1,000 people died at the hands of law enforcement in 2022 and wide racial disparities persisted among those deaths. One of those killed last year was Amir Locke, who was shot by police in Minneapolis executing a no-knock warrant. John Yang spoke with Locke's mother, a Romanucci & Blandin client, about her experience and looks at where policing in America goes from here.
Read the transcript here and/or watch the video above.
August 18, 2022Felony charges were filed August 18, 2022 against a Chicago Police Sergeant for a July incident in which our client’s 14-year-old son was aggressively treated by the officer without probable cause. In the issued statement, the suburban Park Ridge parents of that boy say they are “relieved and pleased” by the charges.
July 6, 2022Romanucci & Blandin is calling for accountability and justice related to excessive force conduct used by an alleged off-duty Chicago Police Officer on a 14-year-old honor student in Park Ridge, Illinois on July 1. The boy is Puerto Rican-American and the officer is white. The incident happened outside the Starbucks at Euclid and Northwest Highway, and the videotape of the encounter has gone viral, showing the man forcefully taking the boy to the ground, putting him in a prone position on his stomach and then putting a knee on the boy’s back.
May 23, 2022Founding Partner Antonio M. Romanucci tells the Washington Post's Robert Samuels: “I could use much stronger language over the fact that the George Floyd Police Reform Act was not passed. We had no better opportunity… to have wide-ranging, wide-sweeping reform in policing, and we blew it.”
April 15, 2022Romanucci & Blandin Founding Partner Antonio Romanucci and Civil Rights Attorney Ben Crump continue to advocate for police reform on the federal and state levels, and have updated their police reform platform in April 2022. The police shooting death of Patrick Lyoya in Grand Rapids, Michigan, has renewed calls for better police training on de-escalation and accountability for actions of excessive force. WZZM-TV in Grand Rapids speaks with Romanucci and takes a closer look at the white paper written by the civil rights attorneys, which lays out comprehensive police reform with a goal of removing "the bad apples."
February 18, 2022Antonio Romanucci on the Sentencing of Kim Potter for the Murder of Daunte Wright
February 7, 2022Following the death of Amir Locke, Antonio Romanucci testifies on the need to curtail no-knock warrants to the Minneapolis Policy & Government Oversight Committee.
October 14, 2021Romanucci & Blandin, LLC and Pitt McGehee Palmer Bonanni and Rivers together announce the filing of a civil lawsuit for the police shooting death of Oscar Herrera in Hillsdale County, Michigan. Adam Burlew, a Deputy from the Hillsdale County Sheriff’s Department shot and killed Mr. Herrera on April 28. 2021. Initial reports say Deputies were called to Mr. Herrera’s home in Reading Township after complaints about his dog, but when the Deputy arrived both the dog and Herrera were inside his home. The dog later bit the Deputy, who shot and killed the animal. The 32-year-old was upset about the death of his dog, and police say Mr. Herrera confronted the Deputy and was shot and killed at the scene.
September 14, 2021Nationally renowned civil rights attorneys Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci launched a call-a-thon that will run through September 16, asking supporters to call their U.S. Senators to urge them to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. The campaign’s goal is to generate 50,000 calls to senators in 50 hours.
September 7, 2021Chicago police misconduct attorney Antonio Romanucci of Romanucci & Blandin and Rashawn Lindsey, one of the plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit against the City of Chicago and the Chicago Police Department (CPD) for its widespread stop and frisk practices, join WTTW Chicago to discuss the recent certification of the class action.
December 10, 2020An esteemed panel of nationally recognized civil rights litigators, including the lawyers for the families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and many of the most high-profile civil rights victims in US history, discuss the latest developments in the law in a Zoom webinar coordinated by 360 Advocacy.
