“The Young Lawyer Knows the Law, the Old Lawyer Knows the Judge.” Jerry L. Steering is a Police Misconduct Specialist who has been suing the police since 1984 for false arrests, excessive force, malicious criminal prosecutions and other federal constitutional violations. THE ONLY RIGHTS THAT YOU REALLY HAVE, ARE THOSE THAT YOU CAN ENFORCE. In the real world, with real judges and real juries, if you cannot get a jury of mostly white, cop-loving jurors to vote for you and against the police, then you have no rights, because you have no way to enforce those rights. (See, Why You (Almost) Have No Rights In America). As Chief Justice John Marshall of the U.S. Supreme Court so eloquently stated in one of our founding cases of the young American Republic: “It is a general and indisputable rule that where there is a legal right, there is also a legal remedy by suit or action at law whenever that right is invaded.” Chief Justice John Marshall, Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. 137 (1803). The converse of that proposition is equally true; where there is no remedy as a practical matter in the real world, with real judges and real juries, then there is no right. In federal court under the Seventh Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, so long as the amount sued for exceeds $20.00 (a 1791 figure) all parties are entitled to a jury trial in a civil case. Accordingly, you may see some constitutional right described in a book, or in a case or statute, or otherwise online, but if as a practical matter, 8 cop-loving jurors will not vote for you and condemn the police in federal court in your federal civil rights trial, then in the real world you have no such rights, because you have real way to enforce them. THE ONLY WAY TO ENFORCE YOUR RIGHTS IN THE REAL WORLD, IS BY HAVING AN EXPERIENCED POLICE MISCONDUCT ATTORNEY FIGURE OUT A WAY FOR A FEDERAL CIVIL JURY TO UNANIMOUSLY VOTE FOR YOU, AND CONDEMN THE POLICE. You need an experienced Police Misconduct Civil Rights lawyer like Mr. Steering to guide your ship to port; to win your case; to enforce your rights. This is no easy task. In federal court in a civil case, you need at least six jurors for a verdict, but not more than the 12 that is required for a criminal case. Fed. R. Civ. Proc. 48(a). Federal judges usually have 8 people sit on federal civil rights trials, in case one or two of them become ill, or get disqualified or are otherwise available. Moreover, verdicts in federal civil cases must be unanimous either way. Fed. R. Civ. Proc. 48(b), and each side only gets three juror challenges during jury selection. 28 U.S.C. § 1870. In addition the only people who get to sit as jurors in Police Misconduct cases are people who believe that police offices are basically good and honest people, with a few bad apples. People who believe otherwise, are routinely excluded as jurors in Police Misconduct cases. Such potential jurors are routinely excused for cause by the judge, or by way of peremptory jury strikes by the lawyers defending the police in Police Misconduct Civil Rights cases. Accordingly, it takes many years of experience in these Police Misconduct Civil Rights cases to be able to actually enforce your rights; to get 8 cop-loving jurors to vote for you to win your case. It doesn’t matter what the law states, or what the jury instructions state, or what the judge says, or even what the evidence shows, if those cop-loving jurors are not going to vote for you. All that does matter, is that they do so. Mr. Steering has handled hundreds of these Police Misconduct Civil Rights cases, and knows what to do to maximize your chances of enforcing your rights; of getting those 8 cop-loving jurors to vote for you to win your case. There’s an old saying in the legal profession: “A young lawyer knows the law, and an old lawyer knows the Judge.” Mr. Steering knows, or knows about, most of the Article III United States District Judges in federal court in the Southern California area; especially those District Judges in the United States District Court for the Central District of California; Los Angeles County, Orange County, Riverside County, San Bernadino County, Ventura County, Santa Barbara County and San Lus Obispo County. He also practices in federal court throughout California. Mr. Steering knows which U.S. District Judge is going to be sympathetic to persons suing the police, and those who are not. You cannot “Judge Shop” in federal court; you don’t get to pick your judge. Moreover, unfortunately, a judge can pretty much make a case result in a verdict, for or against police misconduct victims. You may get the Judge reversed, or even admonished by an Appellate Court, but there are certain District Judges (and, unfortunately, Court of Appeals Judges, who feel compelled to torpedo your case. If you get an unfair trial from a United States District Judge and lose the same, don’t assume that the United States Court of Appeals (in the Western States, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals), is necessarily going to come to your rescue. Mr. Steering understands the ever-changing legal landscape and understands how to play this Contempt of Cop Game to get you justice; both in the form of vindication in the bogus criminal action brought against you, and by way of monetary compensation for the police outrages perpetrated against you. MR. STEERING’S SCHOLARSHIP, LEGAL BACKGROUND AND LAW PRACTICE. Mr. Steering’s law practice serving Southern California. Mr. Steering is also licensed to practice law in the State of Georgia and has practiced in federal courts outside of California pro hac vice, including the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. Mr. Steering is also a Members of the Bars of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals and the United States Supreme Court (since 1987). Mr. Steering is also a published legal scholar on important topics of Constitutional Law. See, Accomplice Accusations in the Criminal Process – The Application of Sixth Amendment Tests for the Reliability of Hearsay Evidence to Probable Cause Determinations; 16 Rutgers L..J. (1984-1985), and he well understands the subtleties and practical realities of guiding your bogus criminal prosecution to a successful outcome, and thereafter suing the police for falsely arresting and beating you, and having the gaul to then procure your bogus criminal prosecution for some “resistance offense”, to shift the blame from him / her to you, for their having to have broken your skull open with their baton. Most of Mr. Steering’s cases involve core Bill of Rights type issues; the difference between living in a free society of a police state. Most of these federal civil rights cases involve police violation of person(s) fourth amendment rights (i.e unreasonable searches of persons and their places and effects, and unreasonable seizures of person (false arrest and unreasonable force, procuring bogus and malicious criminal prosecutions) and first amendment violations (retaliation for protected speech and to petition for redress and various other “Constitutional Torts” , including police whistleblowing cases (Cal. Labor Code Section 1102.5.) If you want to know what do to if you’ve been falsely arrested, retaliated against for exercise of your constitutional rights, beaten-up by the police or maliciously prosecuted, please contact us at (949) 474-1849 or jerrysteering@yahoo.com. Thank you for visiting with us, and best of luck. Even if you have a legal question that’s important to you, and you just need lawyer input, we’ll be glad to answer your questions. Thank you again for visiting with us. If you need to speak with a lawyer about your particular legal situation, please call the Law Offices of Jerry L. Steering for a free telephone consultation. Jerry L. Steering, Esq., Suing Bad Cops And Defending Bogus Criminal Cases Since 1984 What to Do If You Have Been Falsely Arrested or Beaten-up by the Police – Click Here Click on “Home“, above, or the other pages shown, for the information or assistance that we can provide for you. Jerry L. Steering with Diane Sawyer, Co-counsel* Bob Dole, and former partner** Melvin M. Belli
