Harassment And The Reasonable Person Standard
Harassment cannot be defined by the eye of the beholder. Not all offensive or annoying behavior can be criminalized, and the standard does not adjust to the special sensitivity of a victim.
This requirement of objectivity, sometimes called the “reasonable person standard,” is typically spelled out explicitly in statute by requiring the fear created by harassing behavior to be a reasonable fear. Evaluation of reasonableness is highly case-specific and will rely on the totality of the circumstances. For this reason, creepy behavior that is not plainly threatening can be difficult to prosecute as a crime.
Legal Consequences Of Verbal Abuse
What often happens to a victim of verbal abuse? In the workplace, a victim often feels that their dignity is threatened. They can feel extreme psychological and emotional pain. They could feel stressed, threatened, angry and depressed. It can affect their work. Victims may lose motivation and have difficultly focusing on completing their work.
What Is Civil Harassment
In general, civil harassment is abuse, threats of abuse, stalking, sexual assault, or serious harassment by someone you have not dated and do not have a close relationship with, like a neighbor, a roommate, or a friend . It is also civil harassment if the abuse is from a family member that is not included in the list under domestic violence. So, for example, if the abuse is from an uncle or aunt, a niece or nephew, or a cousin, it is considered civil harassment and not domestic violence.
The civil harassment laws say harassment is:
- Unlawful violence, like assault or battery or stalking, or
- A credible threat of violence, and
- The violence or threats seriously scare, annoy, or harass someone and there is no valid reason for it.
Credible threat of violence means intentionally saying something or acting in a way that would make a reasonable person afraid for his or her safety or the safety of his or her family. A credible threat of violence includes following or stalking someone, making harassing calls, or sending harassing messages, by phone, mail, or e-mail, over a period of time .
Read about the law in Code of Civil Procedure section 527.6.
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Check What You Can Do About A Hate Crime Or Hate Incident
You can report it the police if youve:
- experienced a hate crime or incident
- seen a hate crime or incident happen to someone else
Its worth reporting it to the police even if you dont think its very serious. Sometimes small hate incidents can lead to more serious ones. For example, someone might start by making offensive jokes – but they could end up hurting someone.
If you experience more than one hate incident by the same person or group of people, its worth reporting every incident to the police.
Check how to report a hate crime to the police.
When Police Exceed Their Authority
If your arrest was based on false testimony from a known unreliable source, or it was based solely on your ethnicity, your lawyer may be able to demonstrate a civil rights violation. If a fellow officer witnessed your illegal arrest and failed to intervene, an additional charge may be brought against that officer for failing to intervene to protect you from a constitutional violation.
Most violations are based on excessive force. Even if the officers had sound intentions when restraining you, they may not cause unwarranted serious bodily harm or death, such as using a taser on you while you are handcuffed and posing no danger. Whether the officers used excessive or unreasonable force is based on the surrounding facts and circumstances that your attorney will carefully investigate.
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What Do I Need To Prove To Sue The Police For Harassment
Police misconduct encompasses anumber of different types of claims against the police, includingdiscrimination, false arrest, and excessive use of force in view of thecircumstances. A person who wishes to file to claim police harassment will needto verify that:
- Thepoliceman or law enforcement official who caused the harassment hasdemonstrated a pattern of harassing behavior. A single incident of harassmentby one individual is rarely sufficient to sustain a police harassment claim.
- Thepoliceman who caused the harassment did not have probable cause or anappropriate warrant for an arrest. Courts will not hesitate to dismiss claimsof harassment against the police if the victim of that harassment is unable toshow that the police had no probable cause to arrest him. Even a belief ofprobable cause by the policeman may be sufficient to reject an argument that anarresting officer did not have evidence-based probable cause.
- Theexcessive force used by the policemen caused serious injury or death. The burden is often placed on the victim toshow that the circumstances of an excessive force event did not merit thepolicemans harassing conduct.
Although these factors might seemto suggest that a lawsuit for police harassment is unlikely to succeed, thespecific facts and evidence of a particular event will be the crux of proving apolice harassment case.
What To Do If You Receive Threats From Anonymous Internet Users
People who are in the public eye often receive rape and death threats via social media. In most cases they do not know who they are from. You should consider reporting the threats to the police. For the police to help you, you need to make sure to document everything. Every single piece of information that makes you feel harassed and stressed is important evidence. Take this important information with you when reporting harassment to the police. Tell them that you are being harassed.
If it is more than one time, it falls under harassment and malicious communications laws. However, the reality is that the police desperately need more training and education in this area, particularly when the threats are posted on social media. Some pernicious harassers have learnt how to game the system and mask their IP address to avoid detection, which makes it even harder for the police to identify who they are.
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What A Lawyer Can Do In Police Harassment Cases
The majority of police officers are competent professionals who recognize the boundaries of their authority and are diligent in following proper protocol in questioning citizens and respecting their rights. There are instances, however, where an officer may violate the rights of an individual either through misunderstanding, frustration or outright hostility and you will need to retain a lawyer.
Police harassment is an abuse of an officers authority by continually or arbitrarily stopping someone, aggressively questioning him or her, or by conducting an unwarranted or illegal search and seizure. The harassment is commonly an attempt to coerce someone into admitting complicity in a crime, or by threatening or intimidating a person to obtain information. Your attorney helping fight against police brutality and misconduct may need to locate a number of credible witnesses to prove repeated civil rights violations in these instances.
Contact A Philadelphia Police Harassment Lawyer
Have you or your loved one been exposed to harassment by Philadelphia police officers? If so, it is crucial that you discuss your case with an experienced police harassment lawyer as soon as possible. At Abramson& Denenberg, P.C., we focus a large portion of our legal practice on representing police brutality and harassment victims. We have a successful track record of holding Philadelphia police officers responsible. We will review your case and advise you of your legal options. Contact us today to learn how we can fight for your rights.
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Common Examples Of Workplace Harassment
Verbal Harassment. Possibly the most common behavior that comes to mind when you think of workplace harassment is verbal harassment. Verbal harassment can include jokes, innuendos, slurs, name-calling and insults, among other things, as long as the behavior is based on a protected trait. One discrimination case settled between the federal Equal …
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What Happens When You File A Police Report For Harassment
If you suffer from harassment, no matter what type of harassment it is, you have the right to protect yourself, and to report it to the police. The police and local authorities will then be able to take the appropriate measures in order to deal with the situation, and ensure that the harassment stops and that the person committing said harassment against you is dealt with in the way that the law states.
In order to do this, you have to follow the proper procedure, collecting evidence to support your report, all while you also take your own steps to remain protected. But, once you have filed the report to the police, what happens? What do the police do? What procedures are followed?
If youve ever wondered about this, youre in the right place. Were going to tell you exactly what happens after you file a police report for harassment, and well also give you some information on how to file a report in the first place, what qualifies as harassment, what the penalties are, and more.
Does that sound like something youre interested in? Then lets get right into it!
What Does A Triple Text Mean
Answered Dec 12, 2021. Double texting means sending a message to someone and then sending another one usually after a bit of time has passed. Triple texting would be sending a third text after that. People often do this to grab the person they are textings attention, especially when they arent responding.
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Online Harassment Of Russian
The Calgary Police Service is investigating multiple reports of online harassment on a social media platform targeting members of the Russian-Calgarian community.
“In the past 48 hours, we have received multiple reports from citizens about what is believed to be hate speech and harassment targeting Russian-Calgarians on a social media platform,” police said in a release.
Patrol officers and the hate crimes and extremism team are investigating.
“Hate-motivated crimes have no place in our community and we will not tolerate criminal behaviour associated with hate speech and harassment,” said Sgt. Matt Messenger.
“We encourage anyone who believes they have been the victim of a hate crime, or who may have witnessed one, to please come forward and report it to police.”
Police say hate-motivated crimes are recognizable “when the offender is motivated by bias, prejudice or hate, that is based on one of nine personal characteristics of the victim this includes race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, language, mental or physical disability, sex, age, or any other similar factor.”
The victim assistance support team , a free service offered to all victims of crime, is also being utilized. VAST can be reached at 403-428-8398, or toll-free at 1-888-327-7828.
Police also released surveillance photos of a suspect connected to vandalism of a Russian Orthodox Church, where someone scaled a fence and threw red paint on the front doors.
How To Get A Lawyer To Help You Get Justice
11. Look for a competent civil rights attorney
Because of the nature of the case, very few lawyers would be willing to take the case, so you have to start you search for an attorney pretty early so as to meet up with deadlines. If you have criminal charges pending, dont start your civil lawsuit for police misconduct until after the criminal proceedings are concluded. Filing early only gives the police more time to build their case against you.
There exists directories that can enable you find attorneys that are able to take up your police misconduct case. One of them is the National Police Accountability Project. You may not get exactly what you are looking for here, but it is a great jumping off point.
12. Research the attorneys
You may set your sights on about three to four potential attorneys and conduct a research on them to see if they have the kind of qualifications and experience you desire. Much of the information you need is available on their website, or through the website of your states bar association.
13. Discuss fees with your attorney and find out if you can afford them
When you have settled on the attorney that you think is perfect for your case, you now have to discuss their fees and payment policy to see if you can afford them. Your attorney can be willing to take police misconduct cases on a contingency fee, meaning that he or she will get paid only if you win. Many attorneys who take these types of cases work on a contingency basis.
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Block And Report Cyberbullies To The Service Providers
Help your child take preventive measures online to block cyberbullies from contacting them, and report cyberbullies to the site or service providers where the cyberbullying occurred. Responsible sites should take immediate action against cyberbullying incidents.
Once you understand the scope of the problem, and how your child feels, assess what help your child may need.
How To Deal With Harassment Tips And Advice:
Just as a little extra, we wanted to include some tips and advice on what to do, and what not to do, if you are being harassed:
Things you should do:
- Ask the person harassing you to stop
- Communicate your boundaries and make it clear that what you are experiencing is unwanted, and therefore harassment
- Keep any and all evidence of the harassment, as well as a timeline and a summary of everything that you experience
- Talk to loved ones and to people close to you about the matter
Things you should not do:
- Do not answer any attempts of contact from the person harassing you
- Do not retaliate with harassment, let the authorities handle the situation, or else you will also be at fault
- Do not feel ashamed, or guilty. This is not your fault, you are the victim, and do not deserve to be harassed in any way, shape, or form.
- Do not wait for the police to act, take some protective measures of your own, such as informing loved ones, and staying safe.
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How To File Charges Against The Police
This step cannot begin until all criminal charges and civil actions have been resolved. As have been previously said, prematurely filing a police misconduct report will hurt your chances in court by revealing too much information to the police. But if you were not charged with a crime, you can go ahead and file the charge.
14. Find out which right the officer contravened
Under the law, police officers have a defense known as qualified immunity. If you cant overcome this defense, you arent even entitled to sue the officer. Showing that the police officer violated one of your Constitutional rights is the first part of overcoming this defense.
Many police misconduct cases are based on the 4th Amendment, which protects you from unreasonable search and seizure. You should be able to prove that your case falls within this jurisdiction so you can be eligible to go to court.
15. File a lawsuit
If you think your complaints have yielded no results, then contact a qualified lawyer. Start by asking if there are further options that you can adopt in order to seek redress. If there are no other options, then pressing formal charges should be your next step.
On a final note, always keep in mind that the police are not immune to the law, and they must abide by both the laws that bind their profession and those that protect civilians. You should always stand up to hold them accountable whenever they exceed their boundaries by harassing or abusing you.
How Do Stalkers Act
Stalkers write countless letters or emails to their victims, begging for attention. They make repeated phone calls, send gifts, flowers, candies, cards. They secretly follow the victim, either by car or in an insidious way by getting access to the victims email. Weve seen this in many relationships.
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What Counts As Harassment By A Creditor
If the creditor tries to do any of the following things to try and get you to pay back the money you owe, this could be considered harassment. They include:
- contacting you several times a day, or early in the morning or late at night
- pursuing you on social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook
- putting pressure on you to sell your home or take out more credit
- using more than one debt collector at a time to chase you for payment
- not telling you if the debt has been passed on to a debt collection agency
- using paperwork or business logos that appear to be official when theyre not, for example sending you letters that look like court forms
- putting pressure on you to pay all the money off, or in larger instalments when you can’t afford to
- threatening you physically or verbally
- ignoring you if you say you don’t owe the money
- trying to embarrass you in public
- telling someone else about your debts or using another person to pass on messages, such as a neighbour or family member
- falsely claiming to work for the court or be a bailiff in England and Wales or sheriff officer in Scotland
- implying that legal action can be taken when it can’t. For example, implying that your home can be taken from you without a court order
- giving the impression that court action has been taken against you when it hasn’t
- giving the impression that not paying the debt is a criminal offence. For most debts, it is not a criminal offence if you don’t pay them.