A New York court on Tuesday reinstated the pension of former Buffalo police chief Cariol Horne, who was fired for intervening when a white colleague had a black man at a checkpoint during a 2006 arrest.
Driving the news: State Supreme Court Judge Dennis Ward noted in his ruling similar cases, such as the death of George Floyd. Ward said the role of other officers at the scene in these cases had been scrutinized, “particularly his complicity in not intervening to save the life of a person to whom this force is being applied. unreasonable physics “.
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“To his credit, Agent Horne not only stood by, but tried to intervene, despite the penalty he finally paid to do so … He saved a life that day, and the story will register now for the hero he is. “
– Judge Ward
- Ward partially based his decision to overturn a 2010 ruling that upheld his firing against legislation signed by Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown in October, known as the “Cariol Act,” which makes it “A crime that a police officer does not intervene when another officer uses excessive force and also protects whistleblowers,” according to Buffalo News.
The big picture: Horne, who is black, said he heard the handcuffed man saying he could not breathe, invoking the deaths in police custody of Floyd and Eric Garner, two black men who said this in their dying words, who have turned into a “cry of national concentration.” against police brutality, “the New York Times notes.
- Horne said his fellow officer punched him in the face when he tried to stop him.
- The Buffalo police department claimed she had put her fellow officers at risk and was fired in 2008, according to NPR.
- There was no video of the incident.
Note: The judge’s decision in favor of Horne’s lawsuit means Horne will receive a full pension, a down payment and benefits.
What they say: Harvard Law School Director of Criminal Justice Institute Ronald Sullivan, a lawyer representing Horne, said in a statement that the sentence was “a significant step in correcting an injustice.”
- The legal team was grateful to the court for acknowledging that “for his credit, Agent Horne did not just hold himself accountable, but tried to intervene, despite the penalty he eventually paid for doing so. -ho, “he added.
- Buffalo City spokesman Michael DeGeorge told 7 Eyewitness News in a statement: “The city has always supported any additional judicial review available to Officer Horne and respects the court’s decision.”
Read the decision and trial in full via DocumentCloud: