Notable Civil Rights Cases

Richmond

Jim Chanin was part of the legal team that obtained a $3,000,000 jury verdict against the City of Richmond arising from the shooting death of two African American men in 1980 and 1982. The case received substantial publicity including a segment on 60 Minutes. Subsequently, Mr. Chanin was involved in three other wrongful death cases involving the Richmond Police and many other excessive force cases filed and/or settled with the City of Richmond.

 

 

California Department of Corrections

Jim Chanin was involved in numerous shooting cases involving prison guards, two of which resulted in the death of inmates. One of his first cases was a $350,000 settlement as a result of a shooting  of an inmate at Calipatria State Prison.


Mark Perez was shot and killed by a prison guard at Salinas Valley State Prison on February 21, 1998. He was unarmed and shot pursuant to a California state prison policy that allows prison guards to “shoot to wound”. This policy was unlike any other policy in any police department in California which only allows the discharge of a firearm when the officer or an innocent party’s life is in imminent danger or when the perpetrator of a particularly atrocious felony is fleeing and is a danger to the lives of others.

Jim Chanin was part of the legal team that recovered a settlement for Mr. Perez’s family after over five years of litigation with the California Department of Corrections. The case went to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which largely ruled in the family’s favor.

 

Perhaps Mr. Chanin’s most famous prison case involved Vaughn Dortch, who had been confined to the “Violence Control Unit” at the Pelican Bay State Prison. Prison guards forced Mr. Dortch to bathe in scalding hot water resulting in massive burns to the lower part of his body. Mr. Chanin obtained a settlement of $997,000 for Mr. Dortch and his case was prominent in the Madrid case which resulted in significant reforms at the prison.

 

 

Oakland

1979-1999

Mr. Chanin filed his first wrongful death case against the City of Oakland in 1979 following the shooting death of a union member in East Oakland. That case was followed by a wrongful death case in 1985 and numerous other excessive force cases resulting from shootings, beatings, and police dog bite attacks. Mr. Chanin also represented a woman police reserve officer who received a substantial settlement as a result of sexual harassment and wrongful termination.  

 

Riders Case

Jim Chanin was co-counsel with John Burris on the “Riders Case,” a lawsuit that resulted in a payment of $10,500,000.00. The case involved over 125 individuals and the civil rights violations included excessive force and false imprisonment which resulted in over 35 years of wrongful incarceration.

This high-profile case also resulted in a “Negotiated Settlement Agreement” that involves important reforms in the Oakland Police Department, which are monitored by the United States District Court in San Francisco. Mr. Chanin and Mr. Burris meet regularly with the Oakland Police Department and other City officials and take an active part in the ongoing reforms. The police department’s progress is reviewed by an independent monitor who was appointed to measure the OPD’s compliance with the agreement.


Click the links below to read a selection of articles on the rate of compliance with the settlement agreement: 

 

OPD Excessive Force Against Iraqi War Protestors and Innocent Bystanders

On April 7, 2003, demonstrators held a non-violent protest against the Iraq War at the Port of Oakland. Oakland police responded and dispersed the demonstrators by using so-called less than lethal firearms, running over demonstrators with motorcycles, and using other forms of excessive force. The OPD violence was not limited to the demonstrators as numerous longshoremen were either hit by gunfire or arrested. The OPD response was the most violent response to any protest against the Iraq war held in the United States. 

Jim Chanin was an attorney on the legal team that filed a lawsuit against the City of Oakland. The case eventually settled for more than $2,000,000. The City of Oakland also agreed to a consent decree that dramatically changed the way the Oakland Police Department will respond to crowd control situations involving both political demonstrations and other gatherings.

The Oakland Police misconduct did not end with the events of April 7, 2003. During the course a deposition conducted by Jim Chanin, it was discovered that the Oakland Police Department had infiltrated a subsequent demonstration, and even suggested the planned route the demonstrators would take.

 

Smith Class Action

In 2005, Jim Chanin and John Burris obtained a settlement in excess of 2.2 million dollars on behalf of Asian women who were victimized by an on duty Oakland Police Officer who committed acts of sexual misconduct after stopping the women for minor or invented traffic violations.

 

Warrants Class Action

In 2008, the Law Offices of James B. Chanin and the Law Offices of John Burris filed another class action lawsuit against the City of Oakland.  This case arose from a pattern and practice by the Oakland Police Department in which affidavits with false information were presented to Alameda County Superior Court judges who signed warrants authorizing the Police to enter people’s homes and search their persons, belongings and houses.  Many of the plaintiffs were treated disrespectfully in their own homes and were wrongfully incarcerated for prison terms which in some cases exceeded one year. In other cases, the facts alleged by some Oakland Police officers went beyond mere mistakes and alleged outright falsehoods.  

Ultimately, over 100 individuals were identified as class members in this lawsuit.  In 2010, the case settled for $6,500,000.

 

Other Cases Against OPD

  • Jim Chanin successfully represented a father and son falsely accused by the Oakland Police of setting off illegal fireworks and resisting arrest at an Oakland Raisers football game.
  • Torry Smith sued the City of Oakland claiming that they planted evidence on him causing him to be incarcerated and face substantial additional time in jail.  Attorneys Ben Nisenbaum and Adante Pointer at the Law Offices of John Burris successfully sued the City of Oakland. The Law Offices of James B. Chanin represented Mr. Smith and the attorneys in a successful appeal to the Ninth Circuit which upheld a $3,000,000 verdict for Mr. Smith. and a $300,000 verdict for Patricia Grey, who was with Mr. Smith at the time of the incident.  The Court also upheld a $200,000 punitive damage award against the officers and $100,000 award for related civil penalties.
  • $185,000 verdict obtained with Julie Houk in 2009 resulting in excessive force and false imprisonment by OPD against a counselor who was trying to restrain a patient who had escaped from a board and care facility.
  • $175,000 settlement on behalf of a woman subject to sexual misconduct by an Oakland Police Officer while he was on duty.
  • $1,500,000 settlement following a jury trial for a man severely injured as a result of an encounter with the Oakland Police who suspected him of drug use.

 

 

Alameda

Jim Chanin filed several landmark civil rights cases in Alameda in the 1980s and early 1990s. He successfully defended the Spectator, an adult newspaper, when the City of Alameda tried to zone their newsracks out of the City. That case resulted in a victory in both the Alameda County Superior Court and the California Court of Appeals. The City had to pay for the Spectator’s attorney’s fees.

Mr. Chanin also represented two Alameda Police Officers in sexual harassment and retaliation claims against the Alameda Police Department. Both retained jobs with the City of Alameda and received a financial settlement.

 

 

Other Civil Rights Cases

 

 

Police Information

We can all agree that police officers’ home addresses, social security numbers, dates of birth and other personal information should not be disclosed.  However, California is the most restrictive state in the nation regarding the disclosure of the discipline imposed on police officers.  In California, local entities do not have to give the name of an officer who shoots and kills a citizen even if that shooting violates police department policy.  Almost all other police discipline is also confidential as opposed to discipline of lawyers and doctors (who are not public employees) which is posted on the internet and elsewhere.  When an officer is fired in most other states, the public who pays the officers’ salaries is informed and can read all about it.  Most Americans also have the right to access the disciplinary history of officers in order to see how their police are doing.  In California, all of this can be withheld from the public and it is often difficult, if not impossible, to obtain this information without filing a lawsuit and even that is not a guarantee of success. 

Click the link below to read Jim Chanin's comments on the wall of secrecy protecting police officers who commit acts of misconduct in California: