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Parkland student who was shot is suing Officials

Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2018 2:56 pm
by bignflnut
Hero student, 15, who was shot five times using his body to shield others who were fleeing Parkland gunman is the first to file lawsuit over the deadly shooting

Anthony Borges, 15, is suing the Broward County sheriff's office, school district, and the principal and resource officer at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High

Borges is the first student to file a lawsuit over the Valentine's Day shooting that left 17 dead and dozens injured

In his two-page notice filed Monday, Borges' attorney writes that the school district and sheriff's office could have done more to prevent the shooting

Borges was struck five times trying to protect 20 other students

He continues to recover from his injuries in the hospital and has not been able to walk yet
As we were discussing in the Georgia teacher incident thread, now we get to watch various government officials make the case that they were not responsible for this student's bodily safety. Hello Discovery!
'The failure of Broward County Public Schools, and of the principal and school resource officer to adequately protect students, and in particular our client, from life-threatening harm were unreasonable, callous and negligent,' attorney Alex Arreaza wrote in the lawsuit notice on Monday. 'Such action or inaction led to the personal injuries sustained by my client.'

The lawsuit is likely to be the first of many filed by survivors and victims' families.
When the rubber meets the road, we see how much State officials "care".
The NRA, from what I read, is not being sued for this student's injuries.

Re: Parkland student who was shot is suing Officials

Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2018 3:31 pm
by sodbuster95
Highly unlikely this survives motions to dismiss based on sovereign and official immunity. But maybe that will be enough for people to start to get some education on why the "government" is not bound to protect individuals.

Re: Parkland student who was shot is suing Officials

Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2018 4:05 pm
by JediSkipdogg
sodbuster95 wrote:Highly unlikely this survives motions to dismiss based on sovereign and official immunity. But maybe that will be enough for people to start to get some education on why the "government" is not bound to protect individuals.
That would be my hope as well but unfortunately due to the amount of people involved in this, settling would be wise for all the defense parties. Imagine deposing everyone involved and paying them for it. It will get costly fast so even a one million settlement would probably be cheaper.

Re: Parkland student who was shot is suing Officials

Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2018 8:25 pm
by deanimator
"You don't need a gun because the police will 'protect' you." is as stone dead as "Just obey the hijackers and you'll survive."

Re: Parkland student who was shot is suing Officials

Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2018 9:55 am
by bignflnut
When a gunman started shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, two Miramar SWAT team members did what comes naturally: They went to help.

Now they’ve been suspended for it.

The officers did not have permission to respond to the shooting at Parkland on Feb. 14, when 17 people were killed.

And that created an officer safety issue and left them unaccountable for their actions, according to their police department.

But their union reacted differently.

“While it may have been a violation of policy to not notify their supervisors that they were going there, their intentions were brave and heroic, I think,” Broward County PBA President Jeff Marano said Wednesday.
The Borges case seems to be getting stronger.
Now the union is going to defend officers moving towards engaging the threat?
Running towards the crime in progress creates "an officer safety issue", because they didn't have permission?

Re: Parkland student who was shot is suing Officials

Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2018 9:30 am
by bignflnut
Another hospitalized student sends notice:
The letter from the Boca Raton-based Berman Law Group tells the school board that the 15-year-old — who suffered a gaping bullet wound to the top of his right foot — will file a claim against the board for negligence.

The letter is the first step in a process that could lead to a full-fledged lawsuit within the next six months.

The school board’s not the only government targeted by Laman’s attorney. A source at the firm says the Broward County Sheriff’s Office, the Federal Bureau Of Investigation and the state’s Department of Children and Families received similar letters late Monday.

They allege that each agency was negligent in either failing to protect the high school’s students, or not acting on tips and signs that shooter Nikolas Cruz may have been suffering from mental illness in the months before he killed 17 students and staffers and injured more than a dozen people when he opened fire with an AR-15 assault rifle on Valentine’s Day.
FBI!

Re: Parkland student who was shot is suing Officials

Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2018 2:56 pm
by bignflnut
FWIW, here's an article laying out the case that the government has no legal duty to protect. They cite Warren vs District of Columbia, DeShaney v. Winnebago County Department of Social Services, McKee v. City of Rockwall and Riss v. City of New York
It is, therefore, a fact of law and of practical necessity that individuals are responsible for their own personal safety, and that of their loved ones. Police protection must be recognized for what it is: only an auxiliary general deterrent.

Because the police have no general duty to protect individuals, judicial remedies are not available for their failure to protect. In other words, if someone is injured because they expected but did not receive police protection, they cannot recover damages by suing (except in very special cases, explained below). Despite a long history of such failed attempts, however, many, people persist in believing the police are obligated to protect them, attempt to recover when no protection was forthcoming, and are emotionally demoralized when the recovery fails. Legal annals abound with such cases.

SNIP

It is also true that each of us is the only person upon whom we can absolutely rely to avoid victimization. If our client in the last anecdote hadn't taken responsibility for her own fate, she might never have survived the ordeal. But she had sufficient resolve to fend for herself. Realizing the police couldn't or wouldn't help her, she contacted us. Then, when the police tried their bureaucratic shuffle on her, she called me. But for her determination to be a victim no more, and to take responsibility for her own destiny, she might have joined the countless others victimized first by criminals, then by the very system they expect will protect them.

Remember, even if the police were obligated to protect us (which they aren't), or even if they tried to protect us (which they often don't, a fact brought home to millions nationwide as they watched in horror the recent events in Los Angeles), most often there wouldn't be time enough for them to do it. It's about time that we came to grips with that, and resolved never to abdicate responsibility for our personal safety, and that of our loved ones, to anyone else.

Re: Parkland student who was shot is suing Officials

Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2018 3:25 pm
by Bruenor
bignflnut wrote:FWIW, here's an article laying out the case that the government has no legal duty to protect. They cite Warren vs District of Columbia, DeShaney v. Winnebago County Department of Social Services, McKee v. City of Rockwall and Riss v. City of New York
Just grab the book Dial 911 and die for a whole bunch of case law on the subject.
Dial 911 and Die proves this fact. For nearly every American state and territory, this book shows how the police owe no legal duty to protect individuals from crime. The police in most places do not even have to come when you call.
I'm sure there are far more than the 50 or so example cases in this book.

Re: Parkland student who was shot is suing Officials

Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2018 9:58 am
by scottb
Thus the case for not restricting our abilities to protect oneself and loved ones.

Re: Parkland student who was shot is suing Officials

Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2018 10:04 am
by bignflnut
Remember Deputy Peterson, the one who didn't go in to engage Cruz?
Shocking new details about the gunman who shot up Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School were released on Sunday, and it was revealed that officials from the school and a sheriff's deputy recommended that he be forcibly committed to a psychiatric facility two years before his rampage.

Despite clear warning signs and a recommendation for involuntary commitment, nothing was ever done.

School resource officer Scot Peterson and other school officials recommended in September 2016 that the gunman be committed for mental evaluation under Florida's Baker Act.
I'm not going to advocate for involuntary commitment, especially as a way to keep people from purchasing anything.
The fact remains that the legal avenue existed for the State to put a dent in Cruz, but they didn't see the need to protect potential victims. So, the State failed and let's give it moar power?! ERPOs are the way of the future.

Re: Parkland student who was shot is suing Officials

Posted: Thu Mar 22, 2018 9:58 am
by bignflnut
A Broward Sheriff’s deputy assigned to protect the very building on the Parkland campus of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School where 17 people were shot and killed last month was suspended Tuesday for taking a nap in his patrol car.

The Broward Sheriff’s Office said Moises Carotti has been suspended with pay at least until an internal affairs investigation was completed. BSO said at just after 5 p.m. Monday a student notified another officer on campus that Carotti was sleeping in his car.

“The sergeant responded to the marked patrol vehicle, which was parked on the Northwest corner of the 1200 building,” BSO wrote in a press release Tuesday. “He knocked on the window to get Carotti’s attention, who appeared to be sleeping.”

BSO said after the commander in charge of the Parkland unit was notified, another officer was sent to replace Carotti. He had been patrolling the north perimeter of the 1200 building — the same building where 32 people were shot during a rampage last month.

Carotti was ordered to turn in his badge, turn over his vehicle and inform internal affairs of his whereabouts twice a day.
We somehow surrender our Rights to these people.

Re: Parkland student who was shot is suing Officials

Posted: Fri Mar 30, 2018 9:05 am
by bignflnut
A new Report from the local news station where Sheriff refuses to answer until the report is filed (the report isn't final?)
When Local 10 News caught up with Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel, who has avoided the media in the aftermath of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School mass shooting, he refused to answer questions about his agency's response before visiting an apparently sympathetic group, the Weston Democratic Club.

Israel visited the club at a Wings Plus restaurant, where he was said to have blamed partisan Republican politics for the criticism against his agency after it was learned that deputies failed to enter the school while students and staff were being gunned down at the school.

Re: Parkland student who was shot is suing Officials

Posted: Fri Mar 30, 2018 10:46 am
by M-Quigley
bignflnut wrote:A new Report from the local news station where Sheriff refuses to answer until the report is filed (the report isn't final?)
When Local 10 News caught up with Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel, who has avoided the media in the aftermath of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School mass shooting, he refused to answer questions about his agency's response before visiting an apparently sympathetic group, the Weston Democratic Club.

Israel visited the club at a Wings Plus restaurant, where he was said to have blamed partisan Republican politics for the criticism against his agency after it was learned that deputies failed to enter the school while students and staff were being gunned down at the school.
Regarding the bolded,
Israel was referring to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigation ordered by Gov. Rick Scott after failures by the BSO in its response to the shooting came to light more than a week after the shooting. That report is expected by the end of the month.

Norman first caught up with Israel earlier Monday outside the BSO substation, where he addressed deputies there, according to sources, who said he has been visiting district offices to tell deputies that he intends to remain in office, even if Scott removes him from his post.

Re: Parkland student who was shot is suing Officials

Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2018 10:37 am
by bignflnut
The Broward County School Board on Tuesday said it wouldn't participate in a state program that allows certain staff members to carry firearms.

That district includes Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, where 17 people were shot and killed in February.

The state's new Coach Aaron Feis Guardian Program, a response to that shooting, was named after a Marjory Stoneman Douglas coach who died while protecting students.

The program allows a school's non-classroom instructors, including support staff and coaches, who pass a psychological exam and 132 hours of training to carry a gun on campus.
Simply not willing to face the threat in reality.
Bringing a suit for people who can write checks out of a government checkbook doesn't bring justice. They all need to be charged with crimes on a personal basis (fraud, etc.), but the prosecutors won't be rewarded for such and therefore will not act in the interest of justice.

Re: Parkland student who was shot is suing Officials

Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2018 8:57 am
by bignflnut
Further helping the student lawsuit:
Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel is facing a no-confidence vote from the union representing his own deputies,” reports CBS Miami.

Sheriff Israel has faced pressure to resign after the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in February.

In a statement released Friday, the union said they’re holding the vote due to “many instances of suspected malfeasance, misfeasance, failure to maintain fiduciary responsibility by the Sheriff, failure to properly investigate possible criminal misconduct by members of his senior command staff.”