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4WardEver UK

Expungement request denied for ex-cop in Rekia Boyd case

Rekia Boyd
Rekia Boyd

source: WTTW News
published: 19 November 2019

Family and supporters of Rekia Boyd erupted into applause inside a Cook County courtroom Tuesday after a judge denied a request from Dante Servin, the former Chicago police detective who was charged and acquitted in her killing, to expunge any record of his criminal case from the public’s view.

In announcing his decision Tuesday, Judge LeRoy K. Martin Jr. said that just because Servin was found not guilty of involuntary manslaughter, that “does not make one innocent.” He based his ruling on the evidence prosecutors presented in the case in 2015, and the fact that the trial judge felt those facts better aligned with first-degree murder.

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4WardEver UK

Stage play inspired by Sheku Bayoh to examine Scotland’s racist underbelly

Sheku Bayoh & Family
Sheku Bayoh & Family

source: The Scotsman
published: 7 August 2019

A powerful new play inspired by the case of a father-of-two who died in police custody in Scotland and intended to explore how racist the country really is, is being developed by one of its leading theatres.

The Royal Lyceum in Edinburgh is working with an acclaimed poet and writer on Lament for Sheku, which will examine how much prejudice exists in Scotland’s institu­tions and in our wider society.

Hannah Lavery, who has already created a spoken word show recalling her experiences of growing up in a mixed-race family in Edinburgh, said the play was aimed at revealing the human tragedy behind the Sheku Bayoh case, which triggered accusations of racism within Police Scotland.

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4WardEver UK

Settlement reached in police-custody death of Ethan Saylor

Ethan Saylor
Ethan Saylor

source: Washington Post
published: 24 April 2018

The family of Robert Ethan Saylor, a man with Down syndrome who died after three off-duty Frederick County sheriff deputies forced him from a movie theater, have reached a settlement with the state of Maryland, the deputies and the management company of the shopping center where the theater is located.

The $1.9 million settlement will mark the end of a long-standing lawsuit and comes more than five years after Saylor’s death led to public outrage and a call for better training of law enforcement officials.

“There’s a cliche that you can’t assign a dollar amount to a human being’s life, but that is our system, that’s the only remedy we have for justice in our system,” Saylor’s mother, Patti Saylor, said Tuesday.

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