Civil rights

Civil Rights

Civil rights law protects the rights of people as defined by the U.S. Constitution.
As a Seattle civil rights lawyer, Mr. Kannin practices in both Federal and State courts in the State of Washington and has a wealth of experience in all areas of police misconduct litigation, including excessive force, false arrest, and malicious prosecution. He is prepared to fight and win on behalf of his clients.

The most common civil rights cases involve police misconduct that may include excessive force, false arrest and malicious prosecution: See Civil Rights FAQ

Civil rights cases can be difficult to win, but not impossible. A Kannin Law Firm civil rights attorney in Seattle can help you build a strong case. If you need a lawyer for a case involving a Taser burn, police brutality or misconduct, you can call our office at 206.257.7950 24 hours a day to speak with our civil rights attorneys in Seattle, Washington.

If you have been the victim of a civil rights violation, we can help you build your case. Contact us for your free and private legal consultation, and let us help you with your legal battle. Please read our civil rights FAQs to learn more about the different types of civil cases and situations.

For news articles and video footage about civil rights cases handled by Kannin Law Firm go to our civil rights media page, or read case summaries for brief descriptions of specific cases.

Civil suits for wrongful convictions are extremely difficult to win, and most exonerees are shut out from the courthouse. Being wrongfully convicted does not automatically give one the right to sue.

A potential plaintiff must claim and prove that his civil rights were violated, that his constitutional protections were breached, and that this resulted in a wrongful conviction. Then, the difficult part: virtually everyone involved in the legal process that led to the bad conviction is cloaked with immunity. A judge is immune from a wrongful conviction lawsuit regardless of how poorly he handled the trial. A prosecutor is immune as long as he does his job – that is, as long as he prosecutes. If, however, he gets too involved in the investigation, then he might become liable. And a policeman is immune unless it can be shown that his actions were so wrong that any reasonable law enforcement officer would have known that he was violating the Constitution.

Such lawsuits are ruinously expensive to maintain, with the plaintiff’s attorneys forced to front tens, even hundreds, of thousands of dollars in litigation costs. And they are almost too risky to file because recovery is such a long shot.

– John Grisham, The Innocent Man