Legal Commentary

Charges Dropped Against Priest Who Taped Police

By TChris

James Manship is a Catholic priest. He videotaped two police officers in East Haven, Connecticut as they removed license plates from the wall of a store owned by a Hispanic couple. Manship was trying to document the alleged harassment of Hispanics by the East Haven police. The officers took offense.

The officers said in their reports that Manship was holding an "unknown shiny silver object" and struggled with one of the officers who tried to take it from him. But a 15-second video released by Manship's attorneys earlier this month shows one of the officers, before the arrest, asking the pastor, "Is there a reason you have a camera on me?"

Manship was charged with disorderly conduct and interfering with the police. The video ends as the officer approach Manship, but Manship denies struggling with the officer. The discrepancy between the police report and the video apparently convinced prosecutors that they had a weak case. The charges have been dropped.

Meanwhile, parishoners in Manship's church have filed a civil rights complaint with the Justice Department. [more ...]

The Justice Department complaint, filed with the help of Yale Law School students, alleges that police have subjected Latino residents and visitors in East Haven to violence, including beating people in custody. The complaint also says police have been making traffic stops based on race, using racially charged language and retaliating against Latinos who have reported stories of alleged police misconduct to the media.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on March 28, 2009 (boomark / email).