NEW YORK CITY POLICE MISCONDUCT LAWYER
If you have been a victim of police misconduct, you have recourse! Wittenstein & Wittenstein can help you get the justice you deserve. The Civil Rights Act of 1871 protects citizens of the United States from the deprivation of their Civil Rights and Privileges by the government or governmental agencies. Section 1983 of this Act species what must be established to prove this claim:
- That the offenders deprived a person of their Civil Rights
- That this deprivation was caused by the government or somebody working for the government
Local laws and ordinances which deprive individuals of their Civil Rights can also give rise to actions if those laws themselves deprive citizens of their rights. Informal actions can also be actionable if they are customary. If you feel a law is being enforced that violates your civil rights or suspect “cronyism,” please call New York City police misconduct lawyer Wittenstein & Wittenstein for our take on the situation.
Some examples of police misconduct which might violate Section 1983:
- Use of excessive force – There are strict limits on the amount of force a police officer may use to apprehend or control a person during an arrest and while in custody.
- Racial Profiling – If you are stopped or arrested because you “look like” somebody that might commit a crime, that is illegal. There must be actual evidence against you personally.
- False Arrests – If you are arrested without just cause, this is a “false arrest.” You can get damages for the time you were held.
- Bribery – If money is exchanged for wrongdoing by the police.
- Verbal Attacks – You cannot be called names or be spoken to in an offensive way, even if there is just cause to hold you.
- Physical Attacks – You cannot be encouraged to confessor in any way be coerced with physical actions.
- Abuse of Surveillance – If you are being watched without a proper warrant, or the scope of the surveillance exceeds what the Judge signed for on the warrant, this is an abuse of surveillance.
The Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) is an independent agency that handles complaints of police misconduct in New York City. Thousands of complaints are filed every year. These complaints are time sensitive and very difficult for a person to navigate on their own. Hiring the right attorney is paramount to the success of your claim for police misconduct. There are additional protections in New York Law that provide further protection. For example, if you are pulled over by the police, physical force may only be used to control a situation, and never to intimidate. There are many nuances to the laws and regulations to protect citizens from police misconduct. That’s why we offer victims a free consultation to discuss their case.
There are many laws on the books to protect citizens from police abuse, but sometimes all it takes is a “duck test.” If you were arrested because you fit a very broad description for somebody of your race and gender, you should call a New York City Police Misconduct Attorney to discuss a claim for false arrest. There is zero tolerance for racial epithets during an arrest and incarceration – you should not have to tolerate this abuse, even if your arrest was warranted. We are here to help.
If you believe you are a victim of police misconduct, please New York City Police Misconduct Lawyer, Wittenstein & Wittenstein at 718-261-8114 for an appointment.
Introducing Project 2029 – A More Perfect Union
Project 2029 began as a deliberate shift in how I use imagination. More than thirty-five years ago, I made dystopian films that imagined political and social futures shaped by fear, institutional failure, and concentration of power. At the time, those futures felt exaggerated—useful as warnings, but safely distant from reality. Over time, many of the conditions those films explored stopped feeling speculative and began to feel familiar. That experience changed how I think about storytelling and political imagination. If dystopian futures can move from fiction into lived experience, then imagination is not neutral. It shapes what people expect, accept, and resign themselves to. Project 2029 is a conscious decision to move in the opposite direction—to [...]
The Accident Was Minor. The Injury Was Not. Why Low-Impact Car Crashes Still Cause Serious Harm
People tend to describe car accidents using the language of property damage. The car wasn’t totaled. The bumper barely dented. The airbags didn’t deploy. Everyone walked away. And yet, weeks later, the pain arrives. This disconnect—between what a crash looked like and what it did—is one of the most common and most misunderstood issues in New York car accident cases. It is also one of the most aggressively exploited by insurance companies. In Queens, where traffic is dense, speeds are inconsistent, and collisions often occur in close quarters, many crashes fall into the category insurers like to call “minor impact.” The phrase sounds scientific. It isn’t. It’s a financial label, not a medical one. Vehicle Damage [...]
Gravity: CEO Politics
Before Donald Trump turned American politics into corporate spectacle, No Such Thing as Gravity predicted exactly that world: a CEO-in-chief who governs like a brand manager and treats the country like a company. Policies become product launches. Truth becomes marketing copy. Leadership becomes performance. The film’s portrayal of a profit-obsessed leader is disturbingly familiar. Decisions that affect millions are reframed as business calculations. Human lives become numbers on a spreadsheet. This collapse of morality into metrics is the film’s most chilling insight — and its most prophetic. See this prescient political satire at the Spectacle Theater in Brooklyn, part of the Multiple Futures trilogy.
Betaville: Comedy of Capitalism
Most dystopias are grim. Betaville is bright, loud, absurd — and that’s what makes it devastating. Instead of showing us a dark authoritarian future, it reveals the ridiculousness of our own world by pushing capitalist culture to its comedic breaking point. The film’s exaggerated fashion, extravagant characters, and relentless pursuit of trendiness showcase the ways in which capitalism creates arbitrary hierarchies. People compete not for survival, but for relevance. Success isn’t measured in ethics or intelligence, but in visibility—a concept more relevant now than ever in the influencer age. Why does the comedy hurt? Because it’s true. The film exposes the irrationality of capitalist systems that prey on insecurity, reward superficiality, and punish nonconformity. In [...]
Betaville: Cruelty of Style
In Betaville, aesthetic judgment has evolved into a form of social control. Looking wrong isn’t embarrassing — it’s dangerous. The film imagines a world where falling out of style is a capital offense, a reality in which fashion determines value and conformity determines survival. This mirrors one of the harshest truths of modern culture: beauty standards and trend cycles exert tremendous emotional pressure, especially on teens and young women. Social media has turned public evaluation into a 24/7 spectator sport. A single post can crown someone “in” or exile them as “cringe.” Betaville simply makes literal what many already feel: that style is a form of power, and losing it is a kind of death. [...]
Betaville: Capitalist Dystopia
Most dystopias warn us about authoritarian governments, surveillance states, or collectivist control. Betaville does something far more disruptive: it imagines a world ruled by capitalism, fashion, and the aesthetics of power. In this universe, falling out of style is not a social misstep — it’s a threat to your safety, your identity, even your standing as a person. That’s what makes Betaville such a rare dystopia. Instead of government tyranny, the oppressor is trend culture weaponized. Fashion dictates law. Aesthetic taste ranks higher than ethics. And value, both personal and social, is determined by image. This is capitalism at its most absurd and its most dangerous — a system where the marketplace decides who deserves [...]