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  1. #18
    Join Date
    Oct 2014
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    Default Re: False Arrested for Standing in a Median

    Quote Quoting zoinbergs
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    Oh boy, I am hesitant to agree with you that no other damages could be sought. After simply googling "damages in a 42 USC" I clicked on the first two links. Perhaps you are mistaken?
    No, I am not mistaken. The quote you provided laid it out: without compensatory damages, all you get is nominal damages of $1. The law authorizes (but does not mandate) the court to award attorney’s fees. But that does not help YOU get any money. You only get attorney’s fees if you had to hire an attorney to bring the case, and then of course the awarded attorney’s fees just end up offsetting what you paid the lawyer. Punitive damages are a possibility, but to win those requires that you prove that the officer’s conduct was “motivated by evil motive or intent, or when it involves reckless or callous indifference to the federally protected rights of others.” Smith v. Wade, 461 U.S. 30, 56, 103 S. Ct. 1625, 1640, 75 L. Ed. 2d 632 (1983). The burden is on you to prove that. So if the officers were simply mistaken, misinformed, etc you won’t get punitive damages. If they thought it was a median on a public highway and it turns out they were wrong, that’s not something that will get you punitive damages. You’ve not said anything here that suggests the officers acted with evil motive or intent, or reckless or callous indifference to your Constitutional rights. That being the case, you’d likely spend more money to litigate this than you’d get, assuming you can win the case. Your lawyer might come out OK, but that’s not a lot of help to you.

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