Police Misconduct and Civil Rights Basics: Spotting Cases and Protecting Client Rights

Alphonse A. Gerhardstein | Friedman, Gilbert + Gerhardstein

Alphonse A. Gerhardstein is a partner in the Ohio civil rights firm of Friedman, Gilbert +Gerhardstein. https://www.fggfirm.com/al-gerhardstein. For more than 45 years he has litigated civil rights issues including police misconduct, race, sex, sexual orientation and disability discrimination, prisoner rights, voting rights, and reproductive health issues. Gerhardstein has served as lead counsel on numerous civil rights class actions including one that reformed Ohio’s juvenile prisons and another that resulted in Cincinnati’s Collaborative Agreement, which has been repeatedly cited as a national model for police reform.

He served as lead counsel for the family of Sam DuBose which resulted in a settlement exceeding 5 million, an apology and extensive reforms following his shooting by a university police officer. He was lead counsel in Obergefell v. Hodges, the U.S. Supreme Court case establishing marriage equality for same sex couples in all 50 states. His long struggle to secure LGBQ rights is chronicled in a book by Debbie Cenziper and Jim Obergefell, Love Wins, and in episode #5 of the Netflix series hosted by Will Smith, Amend: The Fight for America. https://www.netflix.com/title/80219054. Mr. Gerhardstein is the Founder of the Ohio Justice and Policy Center www.ohiojpc.org which pursues criminal justice reform and litigates human rights in prison. He earned his J.D. degree from and was a Root Tilden Scholar at New York University. Mr. Gerhardstein litigates causes not just cases and pursues reforms in all of his practice areas. He now splits his time between St Paul Minnesota and Cincinnati.

Gary Raney

Sheriff Gary Raney worked for 31 years at the Ada County Sheriff’s Office in Boise, Idaho, serving as the elected sheriff for the last ten years. He retired in 2015 and has worked for the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and independently on law enforcement and jail policy and practices. He has been an investigator for the DOJ, a federal court Monitor in two large California counties and, in 2022, was appointed by a federal court as the Independent Compliance Director for the Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation Department, granting him receiver-like authority.

In 2025, New York City hired him to lead reforms in the jail system, commonly known as Rikers Island, to achieve substantial compliance with 18 provisions of the Consent Agreement in Contempt.

Sheriff Raney holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Criminal Justice Administration from Boise State University and is also a graduate of many of the nation’s top law enforcement leadership courses. He has taught university-level courses for several years and has presented to thousands of law enforcement professionals on best practices.

I. Elements of an excessive force claim against police officers and jail guards | 1:00pm – 1:20pm

II. Protecting a criminal defendant’s civil rights claim while pursuing a guilty or no contest plea | 1:20pm – 1:40pm

III. Statutes of limitation for civil rights claims | 1:40pm – 2:00pm

Break | 2:00pm – 2:10pm

IV. Primary immunity defenses raised by law enforcement officers | 2:10pm – 2:40pm

V. Practical tips for investigating and preserving claims | 2:40pm – 3:10pm