HARRY S. STERN Managing Principal Rains Lucia Stern St. Phalle & Silver, PC Last month, the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office dismissed the case against Richmond Police Officer Eric Smith after a jury voted 11–1 to acquit him. The Honorable John W. Kennedy presided over the trial. The DA […]
Category: PORAC LDF News
PAUL GOYETTE Founder and Managing Partner Goyette, Ruano & Ulmer, Inc. California peace officers are confronting one of the most demanding professional environments in decades. While policing has always required sound judgment, restraint and courage under pressure, recent years have layered additional legal, political and operational challenges onto an already […]
JOHN E.B. MYERS Visiting Professor of Law UC Law San Francisco Efforts to combat racism in the United States span the nation’s history. The post–Civil War amendments to the U.S. Constitution abolished slavery (13th Amendment) and guaranteed equal protection of the law (14th Amendment). In 1871, Congress passed Title 42, […]
RYAN T. TROTTA Partner Ferrone Law Group For years, peace officers and firefighters injured by negligent third parties faced a harsh reality: even when they successfully pursued a personal injury claim, they often walked away with little or nothing. Workers’ compensation liens and future benefit credits routinely consumed third-party settlements, […]
ANDREW GANZ Partner Rains Lucia Stern St. Phalle & Silver, PC It is a scary, sobering and life-altering experience to believe in and spend your whole life working to uphold the rule of law, only to see it ignored when applied to you. For virtually every peace officer I have […]