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As we celebrate #publicdefenseday, I want to talk about this: "A vast majority of cases end in plea deals before an officer is ever required to take the witness stand in open court, meaning the possibility that an officer lied is seldom aired in public." nytimes.com/2018/03/18/nyr…
We see this horrific insulation every day: When an officer interacts with someone, stops, frisks, searches, arrests, they *know* there is basically zero chance their conduct will ever be challenged. For most arrests-low-level, crimes of poverty-pleas happen w/n a day of arrest.
When someone pleads, it doesn't just mean the case ends w/ their public defender unable to cross-examine the officer. A plea also erects legal barriers to civil rights suits (except for claims of excessive use of force, which are hard to prove). Worst case: city settles for them.
