Hispanics and the Law in Massachusetts

College of the Holy CrossMarch 27, 2008Class 9: Civil RightsRobert LeRoux Hernandez, Instructor

This class Review the effects of the “greaser”

stereotype Crime and law enforcement The civil rights act Civil litigation

Lawyering Civil procedure and the courts Civil trials Juries The Press

Bender

Greaser ActSleepy lagoon incident

Zoot suit riots

Bender: Images Latina/os criminally inclined Thieves Violent Gangs Weapons Suppliers and users of illicit drugs

Adia

Hispanic beliefs about the police and the legal system

Somerville MA

Most densely populated municipality in New England

Most dense in the United States outside the New York - New Jersey metropolitan area

2000 census, the city had a total population of 77,478

•mix of blue collar Irish-American, Italian American and Portuguese American families throughout city; •immigrant families from Brazil, Haiti, El Salvador, in East Somerville, •from South Korea and India in Union Square•college students and young professionals, near Cambridge, or near Tufts University

Somerville MA

•Residential property values approximately quadrupled from 1991 to 2003•stock of rental housing decreased as lucrative condo conversions become commonplace•Tensions between long-time residents and recent arrivals•problems of working-class families such as drugs, gang violence and suicides

Somerville MA

Somerville MA

Anti-"yuppie" graffitiEconomic clash between several areas of the city of Somerville and Boston and Cambridge

Culture of anti-intellectualism and anti-gentry sentiment spans many generations

petty crime and violence against outsiders.

Parts of the Story

The events of October 8, 1994The criminal prosecutionsThe civil litigationIntakeThe complaintDiscoveryThe trial

Aftermath

Somerville MA-October 8, 1994

Christopher Mittell, 21 German Alfonso,22 John Bossi James Hyde Christopher Ward John Aufiero Timothy Doherty Michael Henderson Joseph Spear

Who was involved?

PlaintiffsDefendantsWitnessesLawyersJudgesJurorsThe Press

Night Games

What happened at Night Games

Why were they there?Who was Michael Henderson?Where were the police?How did Mittell and Alfonso become involved?

What happened to them and why?

Detention

ArrestTransportationJail cellBookingChargesRelease

Criminal prosecution

Somerville District CourtArraignmentTransfer to CambridgePretrial proceduresGetting the verdict

Civil litigation

Seeking representation Choosing clients and casesPermeation of stereotypingContingent fee casesThe Civil Rights Act: 42 U.S.C. sec. 1983

Individual and municipal liabilityThe blue wall

Civil Litigation

The complaintService of processThe answerFederal CourtDiscovery

InterrogatoriesRequests for documentsDepositions

Depositions

Statements under oathTranscriptsVideo depositionsUse at trial

Discovery

The Somerville Drug UnitBossi and HynesTim DohertyMichael HendersonThe cover-up

Police logThe Henderson pictures

Strategies

Finding the fissureCornering HendersonCity delaysEarly Electronic discoveryPrior casesSettlement vs. Trial

Politics

City politics: Michael Capuano Joe Curtatone

Police politicsState politics:

ReilleyHarshbarger

The Trial: Jan. 10-Feb. 8, 1999The JudgeThe jury: Voir direPretrial motions on lost evidencePlaintiff’s case

Henderson recants Doherty sings

The defenseThe chargeThe verdict

Verdict & Post-trialPunitive damages“No injuries”Disbelief of plaintiffs

“financial gain” “Why were they in Somerville, anyway?”

Minimal damagesMunicipal liability left pendingSettlementFee petition

Significance? Damages: making plaintiffs whole Punitive damages Notches against perps? Very stressful trial Publicity about

racism police misconduct Somerville

The press Future conduct?

Civil Rights and Civil Liberties

Law as mediator of social conflictJustice and ethnicityThe cost of justiceShedding light on social problemsImage and the lawThe long termLatinos and the law in Massachusetts