With 2024 as the deadliest year on record for killings by police, Black people continue to be subjected to excessive force, unlawful arrests, and other forms of discriminatory policing. In a political environment that discourages police accountability and reform, it’s all the more crucial that individuals be able to vindicate their rights in civil court. But the United States obstructs justice for police brutality victims through obstacles to civil litigation that could hold local police departments accountable for misconduct. 

Those obstacles include short statute of limitation periods; inequitable trials and lack of jury diversity; and a little-known judicially created rule called the Heck doctrine that prevents people with criminal convictions from filing civil suits for abuses committed by police. The Heck doctrine incentivizes police officers to charge people with crimes in order to evade accountability for misconduct.

These injustices are vividly illustrated by the case of a 61-year-old Black man in Louisiana named Anthony Monroe. In 2019, Mr. Monroe was detained, beaten, and unlawfully arrested by a Louisiana State Police trooper when he was returning home from work. He was ultimately hospitalized for his injuries, criminalized for the incident, then subsequently barred from pursuing civil litigation in federal court.

What solutions exist?

This submission asks the United Nations to call for overruling or amending the Heck doctrine; establishing a standard statute of limitations period for civil claims; and mandating the use of state and federal databases that track police killings and use of force. 

How can I get involved?

Read our submission to learn how the United States obstructs justice for police brutality victims through obstacles to civil litigation that could hold local police departments accountable for misconduct.

April 25, 2025

Submission to the International Independent Expert Mechanism to Advance Racial Justice and Equality in Law Enforcement (EMLER)