Civil Rights Lawyer

Your Civil Rights Matter

Since becoming licensed as an attorney in 1996, Armi has focused his energy, talent, and experience on championing the civil and human rights of people throughout America. With over 25 years’ experience trying cases throughout the country, Armi has learned that the courtroom is at the cutting edge of shaping civil rights law and policy. Armi fights for his clients’ rights no matter who the opposition is or how high the stakes are.

Armi’s civil rights work extends to keys areas of the community, from families to the government, from residential homes to the workplace, from access to healthcare to fundamental access to justice. Armi brings a demonstrated commitment to this work. He has litigated directly against the highest levels of the U.S. Department of Justice as well as the largest national defense firms.

Civil rights cases run the gamut from First Amendment cases, Fifth Amendment cases, employment discrimination, health insurance discrimination, voting rights cases, fair housing cases, disability rights, and law enforcement misconduct.

Armi stands at the forefront of litigating high-stakes Fifth Amendment property rights cases and takes pride in standing up for those who have had their Constitutional rights violated. He has secured important wins for clients facing a wide range of challenges under the most challenging circumstances, including winning the largest Fifth Amendment case against the U.S. government in the history of our country.

Police Misconduct Claims

News stories and social media posts involving excessive force by law enforcement continue to dominate the headlines. While these stories have illuminated the massive challenges facing our country, in the courtroom the most important issue often is whether the police are entitled to legal immunity. Legal immunity makes holding wrongdoers accountable very difficult. However, under certain circumstances victims of police misconduct can nonetheless recovery financial compensation. Doing this starts with consulting with a qualified and experienced legal team.

In simple terms if the victim can prove the police have a custom and practice of violating constitutional rights, or were improperly trained or supervised, applicable law provides a way to hold a governmental entity responsible. This is typically the governing City or County. Determining whether the facts of your situation qualify is a fact-intensive process. Please contact Armi today.

When a police officer violates your constitutional rights and they are not simply following the policy outlined by their department, you can file a civil lawsuit against them directly. The qualified immunity that protects police officers does not apply when they were clearly incompetent and have violated your constitutional rights.

Excessive Use of Force

News stories are full of examples of the police’s use of excessive force. Pursuant to the Fourth Amendment, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that excessive use of force claims are to be evaluated under the “objectively reasonable” standard. This means that the question of whether use of force is excessive is to be judged from the perspective of a “reasonable” officer on the scene and judged with the understanding that police officers are often forced to make split-second decisions about the amount of force necessary in a particular situation.

However, when use of force is unreasonable, the victim can recover financial compensation. This often involves proving that the police officer improperly and unnecessarily escalated the situation. Law enforcement agencies use excessive force in a number of different ways. Here are some of the most common:

• Shooting: Police officers shooting people is all too common. Shooting is almost always an example of excessive force and can result in fatalities and other serious injuries.
• Asphyxiation: Police officers using external force and pressure to cut off air can cause heart attacks and death. Here again, cutting off a person’s air supply is generally excessive force.
• Choke holds: Even today, police officers sometimes use choke holds on suspects, which can result in a loss of unconsciousness, serious injuries, or wrongful death.
• Pepper spray: Law enforcement officers often use pepper spray for riot control and crowd control, but it too, can cause very serious injuries such as abrasions on the eye, skin blisters, and after-effects.
• Positional Restraint: Placing of suspects on their stomachs for a long periods of time and “hog-tying” suspects are impermissible restraint techniques that can cause serious injury or wrongful death.
• Tasers: Tasers are electroshock weapons used to subdue suspects. They can cause heart problems, seizures, and loss of consciousness.
• Rubber bullets: Despite the name, rubber bullets can kill or maim. When they are used against a person, they can cause internal bleeding and organ damage.

Cases we Handle

Being selective in the types of cases we accept helps us promote and obtain substantial justice for our clients. Therefore, we focus on the most egregious police misconduct cases:

• Excessive Force Resulting in Wrongful Death
• Unlawful Search & Seizure Resulting in Wrongful Death
• Excessive Force Resulting in Significant Personal Injury (taser burns, heart attacks, broken bone(s), torn muscles or ligaments, blunt force trauma, asphyxiation, and suffocation)

• Unlawful Search & Seizure Resulting in Significant Catastrophic Personal Injury (taser burns, heart attacks, broken bone(s), torn muscles or ligaments, blunt force trauma, asphyxiation, and suffocation)

If you have been the victim of police brutality, we can help you hold the responsible parties accountable by seeking to recovery compensation for medical bills, lost income, pain and suffering, and more. Contact us today to schedule a free consultation.