Federal judges weighing whether to fully adopt a plan to streamline the settlement of civil rights cases against the New York City Police Department ran into opposition from some members of the plaintiffs’ bar on Tuesday.
At a public comment hearing on a pilot program put in place in 2011 to handle cases alleging excessive force, false arrest or malicious prosecution, several civil rights lawyers told Southern District Judge Paul Crotty (See Profile) that the new measures tilt unfairly toward the city’s Law Department and have done little to speed settlements.
