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Making It a Federal Case
As in Civil Rights Buttles of 60's, U.S. Uses
19th-century Laws to Enter Brutality Cases
By NEIL A. LEWIS
SprrttlM !fcr Nr* Vmk I hum
WASHINGTON. March 15 — The
Federal Government's authority to
deal with police brutality cases like the
one in which four police officers were
charged in Los Angeles today rests on
a pair of Reconstruction-era laws that
lay largely dormant until
the civil rights crusades of
News the 1960's.
Analysis In a meeting with news
executives today, Attorney
General Dick Thornburgh
emphasized that ihe indictments in Los
Angeles on local charges of assault and
other counts would be supplemented by
an Inquiry involving the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Other Justice Department officials said (he inquiry
would almost certainly result in civil
rights charges.
"We in the Justice Department have
responsibilities under Ihe Civil Rights
Act to take action against anyone who
abuses their official authority against
the citizens of this country," Mr.
Thornburgh said.
"We are doing in this case what we
do in a variety of other cases, and that
Is conduct an investigation under the
civil rights laws using the F.B.I, to
determine whether or not there is sufficient evidence to prosecute under the
Federal laws these offenses that are al-
; leged to have occurred in Los An-
iaeks."
Survey of Brutality Planned
Mr. Thornburgh said the investlga
(ion of the Los Angeles Incident, In
which a black motorist was beaten by
while police officers, was in addition to
a nationwide survey of police brutality
| reports he has ordered. The survey, an-
j nounced Thursday, Is Intended to deter-
| mine if there are patterns to police
misconduct, Justice Department officials have said.
John R. Dunne, the head of the Justice Department's civil rlghis division,
I said that even though the department
1 is entitled to take action no matter
' what happens locally, one of the main
factors In deciding on Federal civil
W"lghts charges Is the outcome of the
Base locally. "If we believe (he local
[prosecution has resulted In a heavy
I enough penalty, we will not prosecute
I any further," he said.
But Ihe Los Angeles case, In which a
widely televised videotape of the beat-
j ing of ihe motorist, Rodney G. King,
, has aroused public outrage, will appar-
| ently be an exception (o that procedure,
I Judging from Mr. Thornburgh's re-
I marks today. And another official said
I lhat the Justice Department will al
I most certainly involve Itself In the case
, because of the national attention.
| The Reconstruction-era statutes
likely to be used by the Government,
one of which was enacted to cripple the
j Ku Klux Klan, give the F.B.I, a reason
to enter brutality cases, especially
those In which local prosecutors may
' be close to the police.
anyone who conspires tq deprive u per*
son of civil rights or anyone who deprives someone of civil rights "under
color of law" — lhal is, as an official
like a police officer. Although the statutes existed since the mid-1870's, they
were little used, said Burke Marshall, a
professor at Yale Law School and a former head of the civil rights division in
John F. Kennedy's Administration.
When three civil rlghis workers were
murdered in Mississippi in 1964 and
local officials failed to prosecute, the
Justice Department used the old laws
The laws provide for penalties for years
Public outrage
makes a rights
case likely in
Los Angeles.
to charge several sheriff's deputies
and won convictions that were later upheld by the Supreme Court.
The laws provide for penalties of up
to 10 years in prison for each violation,
but If a rights violation results in a
death, a defendant can be sent to prison
for life.
Drew S. Day* 3d. the head of the civfT
rights division under President Jimmy
Carter, recalled a 1975 case In which
the Government used the civil rights
laws to supplement a murder prosecution against a sheriff In Cusiroville.
Tex.
A suspect was killed by a sholgun in
what (he sheriff said was un accident.
Locally, (he sheriff was convicted of
aggravated assault and sentenced to 10
years In prison. Bui a Federal prosecution on civil rights charges resulted in a
life sentence.
Justice Department officials said
civil rights cases that Involve brutality
charges are especially difficult to
prosecute. Often such a case "comes
down to a swearing contest between a
police officer and (he alleged victim as
lo whelher excessive force was used,"
said Joseph Jackson, who heads the
FBI's section that investigates the
claims.
The authorities and juries are prone
to accept to the word of law enforcement officials over people who say they
are victims, and officials say this is one
reason minority people are disinclined
to make such charges.
The vast majority of brutality complaints arc handled by the local police.
Justice Department officials say most
people do nol complain to Federal officials because they are unaware of the
laws.
Mr. Dunne said the nationwide study
of brutality Incidents will include about
15,000 complaints filed with the Federal Government over the last six
Object Description
| Title | Correspondence: complaints against LAPD, 1978-1991 |
| Description | Newspaper clippings (Los Angeles Times, L.A. Weekly, Los Angeles Daily News, New York Times, Sentinel) and magazine articles (U.S. News & World Report, Newsweek) documenting Los Angeles Police Department misconduct under Chief Daryl F. Gates, 1978-1991, compiled by Irving Kessler and Lynn F. Kessler. Includes: Introduction, Contents, Excessive force, Rodney King, Mexican nationality, Civil rights, Property, Silence, Discrimination, Accountability, Gates intolerance, Recommendations. PART OF A SERIES: Materials in the series fall into one of several categories related to the Independent Commission's work product: (1) Commission meeting materials, which include meeting agendas, work plans, memoranda, and articles about police misconduct that were circulated and reviewed during the Commission's internal meetings; (2) public correspondence, which includes citizen complaints against the LAPD in the form of written testimony, articles, and an audio cassette tape, as well as letters drafted by citizens in support of the LAPD; (3) summaries of interviews held with LAPD officers regarding Departmental procedures and relations; (4) public meeting materials, which include transcripts, supplementary documents, and witness statements that were reviewed at the Commission's public meetings; (5) press releases related to the formation and work product of the Commission; and (6) miscellaneous materials reviewed by the Commission during its study, including LAPD personnel and training manuals, a memorandum of understanding, and messages from the LAPD's Mobile Digital Terminal (MDT) system. |
| Coverage date | 1978/1991 |
| Creator |
Kessler, Irving, compiler Kessler, Lynn F., compiler |
| Publisher (of the original version) | Los Angeles Times; L.A. Weekly; U.S. News & World Report; Los Angeles Daily News; New York Times; Newsweek; Sentinel |
| Place of publication (of the original version) | Los Angeles, California, USA; Washington, DC, USA; New York, New York, USA |
| Publisher (of the digital version) | University of Southern California |
| Date created | 1991 |
| Date issued | 1978/1991 |
| Type |
texts images |
| Format | 368 p. |
| Format (aat) |
clippings (information artifacts) articles summaries |
| Format (imt) | application/pdf |
| Language | English |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Part of collection | Independent Commission on the Los Angeles Police Department, 1991 |
| Series | Independent Commission File List |
| File | Complaints, suggestions, and support |
| Box and folder | box 23, folders 7-9 |
| Provenance | The collection was given to the University of Southern California on July 31, 1991. |
| Rights | This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Manuscripts Librarian. Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained. |
| Physical access | Contact: Special Collections, Doheny Memorial Library, Libraries, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0189; specol@dots.usc.edu |
| Repository name | USC Libraries Special Collections |
| Repository address | Doheny Memorial Library, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0189 |
| Repository email | specol@dots.usc.edu |
| Filename | indep-box23-07_09 |
Description
| Title | Correspondence: complaints against LAPD, 1978-1991, p. 163 |
| Format (imt) | image/tiff |
| Physical access | Contact: Special Collections, Doheny Memorial Library, Libraries, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0189; specol@dots.usc.edu |
| Full text | Making It a Federal Case As in Civil Rights Buttles of 60's, U.S. Uses 19th-century Laws to Enter Brutality Cases By NEIL A. LEWIS SprrttlM !fcr Nr* Vmk I hum WASHINGTON. March 15 — The Federal Government's authority to deal with police brutality cases like the one in which four police officers were charged in Los Angeles today rests on a pair of Reconstruction-era laws that lay largely dormant until the civil rights crusades of News the 1960's. Analysis In a meeting with news executives today, Attorney General Dick Thornburgh emphasized that ihe indictments in Los Angeles on local charges of assault and other counts would be supplemented by an Inquiry involving the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Other Justice Department officials said (he inquiry would almost certainly result in civil rights charges. "We in the Justice Department have responsibilities under Ihe Civil Rights Act to take action against anyone who abuses their official authority against the citizens of this country," Mr. Thornburgh said. "We are doing in this case what we do in a variety of other cases, and that Is conduct an investigation under the civil rights laws using the F.B.I, to determine whether or not there is sufficient evidence to prosecute under the Federal laws these offenses that are al- ; leged to have occurred in Los An- iaeks." Survey of Brutality Planned Mr. Thornburgh said the investlga (ion of the Los Angeles Incident, In which a black motorist was beaten by while police officers, was in addition to a nationwide survey of police brutality | reports he has ordered. The survey, an- j nounced Thursday, Is Intended to deter- | mine if there are patterns to police misconduct, Justice Department officials have said. John R. Dunne, the head of the Justice Department's civil rlghis division, I said that even though the department 1 is entitled to take action no matter ' what happens locally, one of the main factors In deciding on Federal civil W"lghts charges Is the outcome of the Base locally. "If we believe (he local [prosecution has resulted In a heavy I enough penalty, we will not prosecute I any further," he said. But Ihe Los Angeles case, In which a widely televised videotape of the beat- j ing of ihe motorist, Rodney G. King, , has aroused public outrage, will appar- | ently be an exception (o that procedure, I Judging from Mr. Thornburgh's re- I marks today. And another official said I lhat the Justice Department will al I most certainly involve Itself In the case , because of the national attention. | The Reconstruction-era statutes likely to be used by the Government, one of which was enacted to cripple the j Ku Klux Klan, give the F.B.I, a reason to enter brutality cases, especially those In which local prosecutors may ' be close to the police. anyone who conspires tq deprive u per* son of civil rights or anyone who deprives someone of civil rights "under color of law" — lhal is, as an official like a police officer. Although the statutes existed since the mid-1870's, they were little used, said Burke Marshall, a professor at Yale Law School and a former head of the civil rights division in John F. Kennedy's Administration. When three civil rlghis workers were murdered in Mississippi in 1964 and local officials failed to prosecute, the Justice Department used the old laws The laws provide for penalties for years Public outrage makes a rights case likely in Los Angeles. to charge several sheriff's deputies and won convictions that were later upheld by the Supreme Court. The laws provide for penalties of up to 10 years in prison for each violation, but If a rights violation results in a death, a defendant can be sent to prison for life. Drew S. Day* 3d. the head of the civfT rights division under President Jimmy Carter, recalled a 1975 case In which the Government used the civil rights laws to supplement a murder prosecution against a sheriff In Cusiroville. Tex. A suspect was killed by a sholgun in what (he sheriff said was un accident. Locally, (he sheriff was convicted of aggravated assault and sentenced to 10 years In prison. Bui a Federal prosecution on civil rights charges resulted in a life sentence. Justice Department officials said civil rights cases that Involve brutality charges are especially difficult to prosecute. Often such a case "comes down to a swearing contest between a police officer and (he alleged victim as lo whelher excessive force was used," said Joseph Jackson, who heads the FBI's section that investigates the claims. The authorities and juries are prone to accept to the word of law enforcement officials over people who say they are victims, and officials say this is one reason minority people are disinclined to make such charges. The vast majority of brutality complaints arc handled by the local police. Justice Department officials say most people do nol complain to Federal officials because they are unaware of the laws. Mr. Dunne said the nationwide study of brutality Incidents will include about 15,000 complaints filed with the Federal Government over the last six |
| Filename | indep-box23-08-01~15.tif |
| Archival file | Volume77/indep-box23-08-01~15.tif |
