Family Members of Rekiya Boyd and Mike Brown v. United States
On July 5 and July 12 respectively, Petitioners submitted briefs in the case highlighting the systemic injustice and racial extrajudicial killings by law enforcement. Rekiya Boyd, Angela Helton and Martinez Sutton v. The United States of America and Micheal Brown and Lezley McSpadden v. United States of America challenges violations of rights under the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man.
Justin Hansford, Executive Director of the Thurgood Marshall Civil Rights Center along with RFK Human Rights represent Micheal Brown and Leslie McSpadden along with Rekia Boyd, Angela Helton, and Martinez Sutton.. Rekiya Boyd was shot after being followed by an ununiformed officer in an unmarked vehicle who did not identify himself as an officer. Micheal Brown was shot and killed after being followed, blocked, and struck with a card door while holding his hands in the air in a surrender position. Both Mike Brown and Rekiya Boyd were unarmed. The interactions leading to the death of petitioners resulted from unconstitutional patterns and practices of policing.
These cases come at a time following massive widespread protest against police violence in the United States. The failure to hold police who commit violence accountable as well police departments’ patterns of abuse expose the deficiencies in federal laws and their noncompliance with international legal standards.