Civil Rights Attorney in Atlanta

What Are Instances of Civil Rights Violation Cases?

At Bayuk Pratt, an Atlanta civil rights attorney can help you pursue justice and financial compensation after someone else violates your civil rights. Common types of civil rights violations our firm handles include:

• Police Brutality – Excessive force by police occurs when officers use force not approved by their departments, such as dangerous chokeholds or pinning maneuvers. Excessive force can also occur when officers use an unreasonable level of force to respond to a situation. For example, they might use deadly force to subdue an unarmed suspect who does not pose a threat to the lives of the officers or the public.
• Illegal Search and Seizure – Law enforcement may violate a criminal suspect’s Fourth Amendment privilege against unlawful search and seizure when they search the suspect’s person, vehicle, home, or business without a warrant or probable cause. An illegal search or seizure may also occur when officers lack reasonable suspicion to detain and investigate an individual, since any subsequently discovered evidence cannot support probable cause for a search.
• Wrongful Conviction – A wrongful conviction may occur when prosecutors take a case to trial knowing they lack probable cause to try a defendant, either because police or prosecutors have fabricated evidence or because they’ve withheld favorable or exculpatory evidence.
• Police and Government Misconduct – Police misconduct may take the form of fabricating evidence in criminal cases, providing false testimony, withholding exculpatory evidence from defendants, or improperly extracting confessions or inculpatory testimony by failing to inform suspects of their rights or coercing testimony. Many instances of police and government misconduct occur due to racial or religious discrimination or inherent biases held by officers.
• Sexual or Physical Assault – Police and corrections officers may engage in sexual or physical assault of detainees or prisoners. They may also fail to intervene in cases of assault between detainees or inmates.
  False Arrest or Imprisonment – Police may falsely arrest or imprison a suspect when they knowingly lack probable cause to believe the suspect committed a crime.
• Wrongful Imprisonment – A case of wrongful imprisonment may occur when law enforcement holds a suspect or defendant, knowing that police and prosecutors lack reasonable suspicion or probable cause to detain the individual.
• Discrimination – The law prohibits government officials from discriminating against people and depriving them of due process and equal protection of the law based on specific personal characteristics, such as race, color, national origin, religious belief, sex, or gender. State and federal laws also prohibit employers from discriminating against workers in employment decisions based on many of these same characteristics and others.
• Workplace Harassment – An employee may suffer a hostile work environment or employment discrimination based on a protected personal characteristic such as race, national origin, religious belief, age, sex, gender, or sexual orientation.
• Employment Retaliation – An employer may retaliate against a worker who complains of discrimination or a hostile work environment, exercises their rights under workers’ compensation or family and medical leave laws, or engages in whistleblowing activities against the employer.

What Compensation Could You Pursue in a Civil Rights Violation Lawsuit?

When you’ve experienced a violation of your civil rights, you may incur financial and personal losses due to physical injuries, loss of freedom, or harm to your reputation. You may have the right to recover compensation for the resulting losses, including:

• Costs of medical treatment and rehabilitation for physical injuries or emotional trauma you’ve experienced due to the violation of your rights
• Costs of long-term care and support services if physical injuries result in severe disabilities
• Loss of income due to missing time from work
• Loss of earning capacity if your employer wrongfully terminates you
• Physical pain and anguish
• Emotional trauma or distress, including due to loss of reputation or humiliation

In rare cases, a jury in a civil rights lawsuit may also award punitive damages. Punitive damages do not compensate you for financial or personal losses you suffer due to the violation of your rights. Instead, they punish the party or parties at fault for violating your rights and deter others from engaging in similar conduct.