The ideal expressed in the legal maxim “Justice delayed is justice denied” is deeply ingrained in our jurisprudence and comes to us from the Old Testament. The book of Exodus recounts how Moses was advised to appoint the most able Israelites that they might “judge the people in all seasons” lest litigants suffer injustices owing to delay because no judges were available to hear their cases. Notwithstanding the expression of this noble sentiment from biblical days to our own, we have come to accept delay in our current justice system as routine. But delay in one “recent” case stands out from all the rest, is anything but routine, and, at this point, is simply beyond the pale: the case of Eric Garner, the African-American man who died in police custody while being arrested for a petty offense.

The basic facts of the Garner case are by now well known: On July 17, 2014, New York City Police Officers on Staten Island attempted to arrest Garner because they suspected him of selling single cigarettes from packs without tax stamps. When Garner resisted, the officers used force to subdue him. One of the officers, Daniel Pantaleo, placed Garner in a headlock or chokehold for at least 15 seconds. Garner, restrained by the police and lying face down on the ground, ultimately lost consciousness, was taken to a hospital by ambulance, and was pronounced dead about an hour later. It soon surfaced that the fatal encounter between Garner and the police was captured on video by a bystander who made his recording available to the authorities. An autopsy performed by the New York City Medical Examiner’s Office revealed that the cause of death was “[c]ompression of neck (choke hold), compression of chest and prone positioning during physical restraint by police.” The Medical Examiner’s Office also concluded that “[a]cute and chronic bronchial asthma; [o]besity; [and h]ypertensive cardiovascular disease” were “[c]ontributing conditions” in Garner’s death.

This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.

To view this content, please continue to their sites.

Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Why am I seeing this?

LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.

For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]