Federal Court Allows Lawsuit Against Putnam County for Illegal Task Force Searches to Proceed – Everything Law and Order Blog

Late last week, a federal judge denied the motion to dismiss filed by Putnam County, who had asked the Court to dismiss the first of several lawsuits filed against Putnam County for a pattern and practice of illegal searches by their “Special Enforcement Unit,” who were caught on video searching the inside of my client Dustin Elswick’s home, which you may have seen on Youtube.

Usually in federal civil rights lawsuit, you are required to sue the individual government employee or officer who engaged in the violation. However, under the Supreme Court’s ruling in Monell v. Dep’t of Soc. Servs., 436 U.S. 658 (1978), counties and cities (i.e., political subdivisions) may be sued directly when they have adopted some policy or practice which authorizes a constitutional violation against citizens by police officers. These are known as “Monell Claims” and they are very difficult to prove, generally. So they are pretty routinely dismissed. I’m happy this one wasn’t. Presumably the other two cases just like it will also be allowed to proceed…..

Freedom is Scary, Episode No. 79.

You can read the memorandum opinion and order here:

Federal Court Allows Lawsuit Against Putnam County for Illegal Task Force Searches to Proceed

You can learn more about the underlying case and watch the original youtube videos here:

The Drug Task Force Burglary Caught on Camera Case

source

31 thoughts on “Federal Court Allows Lawsuit Against Putnam County for Illegal Task Force Searches to Proceed”
  1. Only one way to stop this crap. Time to start holding these officers personally responsible for their actions and their supervisor. Cops like this are idiots, all cops personal information including home addresses, relatives and neighbors are public information. Time as citizens to take a stand against these corrupt cops as we know the supervisor will cover for them

  2. I find that the biggest argument against following precedent and/or a similar case to disqualify QI is that at SOME point in legal history, the precedent had to be made FOR THE FIRST TIME. In other words, when the precedent was set, it HAD to come up as a court decision that never dealt with it before. This makes QI void to both, a new case not being part of a precedent and SIMILAR cases whereby a precedent had to be ruled for the first time because the US Constitution's Bill of Rights covers the ENTIRE country and regardless of which circuit court hears a case, the Constitution applies nationally REGARDLESS of cases in that district.

  3. I LOVE WHEN THEY BUST COPS! I ALWAYS TEACH MY KIDS, GRAND KIDS AND ANY OTHER KIDS, PEOPLE YOU NAME IT, THAT COPS ARE THE BIGGEST CRIMINALS BUT WITH BADGES! THEY CAN LIE TO YOU, MAKE UP REASONS TO PULL YOU OVER, HAVE NO PROBLEMS WITH COMMITTING CRIMES AGAINST YOUR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS BECAUSE THEY HAVE IMMUNITY, YOU CAN NOT CHARGE A COP OR HAVE THEM CHARGED ONLY OTHER POLICE CAN DO THAT! TRUST ME AND IM A WHITE REPUBLICAN, THE WAY THEY JUST TREAT YOU BECAUSE THE WAY YOU LOOK AND IF THEY FIND OUT YOU HAVE A RECORD!? ITS ALL OVER FOR YOU! THEY DO EVERYTHING IN THEIR POWER TO KEEP YOU IN THE SYSTEM! Please help de funding the police, we need less of these tyrannical criminals with badges on the streets, not more!!! They think they can do whatever they want cause they wear a badge! Just watch how they question you when you get pulled over, first thing is have you been drinking? Do you have any weapons in the car like your civil rights prohibited you or something!? Anyways, so they pulled my friend over in Racine Wisconsin and he had a record from over 16 years ago for a drunk driving, he did his time and never drank again, so after running his plate which they do all day long without your permission or having a reason, well they will make one up lol and that's what they did to my friend. First thing they asked cause they seen he got busted for drunk driving is, have you been drinking? Or because you swerved back there and I suspect your drinking. Well he wasn't and this young rookie by the time he pulled over and started talking, 6 other cop cars pulled up. They searched his car found nothing, so they swabbed his money, his 26 bucks and found methamphetamine on only 1 of them, not that it would rub on other bills, anyways and charged him with OWI, POSSESSION OF METHAMPHETAMINE THAT WAS CHEMICALLY PULLED FROM THE BILL AND paraphernalia THE SAME BILL!! RUINED HIS LIFE! LOST HIS 28 A HOUR JOB! AMD IF IT WASNT FOR MY BOSS BAILING HIM OUT FOR $10000 YES THAT IS CORRECT $10000 THEN HE WOULD OF LOST HIS HOME, TRUCK, ALL HIS TOOLS IN STORAGE ALONG WITH HIS $20000 HARLEY! SO screw YOU COPS AND I HOPE WE DEFUND YOU ALL!! WASH ALL YOUR CASH!

  4. Thanks John, see the key board lawyers are at it below. Love to see these cop have to say. I said at the time he acted in self defence….USA education system is so poor the population doesn't have any idea what Fascism or socialism or Communist means.
    He's not one of my mob I'm hard Left but no Communist.lol but he does deserve a fair trial….Cops have found going after Lawyers is bad idea as they know the law have money and do sue hard! I may not like or support Fascist but I will die defending their right because if it allowed to become political then it effects me to.

  5. The Putnam County SD has always operated in that fashion.
    I left years ago but the drug unit there has always bent the law and did what they needed to get evidence. They do what they want.

  6. Tell me something how utterly horrible is that they will utilize fluctuations in the law for benefit yet hold your client up to the highest legal & moral standard enough to put them in prison while giving themselves legal leeway you could drive a truck through…

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