Blog

The New York Court of Appeals, in deciding Rivera v. State, 34 N.Y.3d 383 (2019), altered how pro se litigants and attorneys approach the “scope of employment” issue in prison cases.  The following case examines the impact of the Rivera decision. In March of 2020, an inmate (our client: I’ll call him John Doe 2) housed in a New York State correctional facility alleged that correctional officers took him to an area without video surveillance and brutally assaulted him. Mr. Doe was slammed into a wall, punched multiple times across the face, choked, kicked, and pepper sprayed.  During this...

By: Brendan Gilmartin   Correctional facilities are stressful environments where tensions often run high. These facilities create situations that often lead to the use of excessive force by correctional officers for myriad reasons.  When excessive force is used, correctional officers may violate an inmate’s Eighth Amendment right to be free from “cruel and unusual punishment”. When a correction officer uses excessive force on an inmate, oftentimes the State of New York (State) is also sued for the actions of the correction officer. Holding the State liable for the actions of the...

Written by Edwin C. Torres, Legal Intern at Sivin, Miller & Roche, LLP This is the first in a series of blogs addressing the issues raised in Rivera v. State of New York.  There will be a number of blogs following this that discuss, in depth, cases that the firm is currently handling and the issues that are present because of the Rivera decision. Before the end of 2019, the highest court in the State, the New York Court of Appeals, handed down its decision on a case that has likely remained under the radar for most.  The case is Rivera v. State of New York, 142 N.E.3d 641 (2019), and I...

The case of George Floyd has drawn the attention of the entire world in recent weeks. We all watched in horror this past Memorial Day, as Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin placed his knee on the neck of George Floyd and, over nine agonizing minutes, pressed the life out of him. Meanwhile, three other officers on the scene stood by and did nothing to intervene. What happened to George Floyd should never happen to anyone in the Land of the Free – especially from law enforcement officers who have a sworn duty to protect and serve the community. Unfortunately, though, stories of police...