Troy law firm Frank, Haron, Weiner & Navarro, and Chicago firm Loevy & Loevy have filed a class action lawsuit alleging that the Detroit Police Department systematically abused and mistreated arrestees. The suit was filed June 1, 2010 in the United States Federal Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. (Read the complaint here.)
The complaint in Jonathan Brown, et al v. City of Detroit alleges that thousands of people arrested since May 27, 2007, were detained for long periods of time, in excess of 48 hours, without access to a judge. They were denied food, water and sleep during their detentions, according to the complaint.
There are three classes of plaintiffs in the suit. Class 1 consists of the thousands of people who are alleged to have been detained by DPD overnight or for more than 16 hours in a 24-hour period during which they were denied basic human needs for rest and personal hygeine.
Class 2 are plaintiffs who were arrested and detained for more than 48 hours without a judicial determination of probable cause, and the third group is made up of people detained for more than 24 hours without receiving at least two meals.
The Michigan Lawyer 