Civil Rights Clinic students Zoe Burke ’23 and 3L Rahni Stewart recently won an appeal for their client in a police misconduct case in Kenner, LA.

Their client, Deanna Thomas, an unhoused 56-year-old woman, was handcuffed, violently thrown on the ground and kneeled on by officers with the East Jefferson Levee District Police Department during her arrest for residing on a levee in April 2020. The officers also seized and destroyed Ms. Thomas’s property, including her birth certificate and irreplaceable personal affects. 

Burke and Stewart drafted the appeal brief and the reply brief responding to the officers’ brief. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals found that the district court erred in granting the officers qualified immunity and dismissing Ms. Thomas’s excessive force claim, stating that she put forth evidence that the officer “used excessive force, in violation of clearly established law, by throwing her to the ground while she was restrained and subdued.” 

Betsy Ginsberg, the director of Clinical Education and the founder and director of the Civil Rights Clinic, said that qualified immunity often stands in the way of legal recourse for victims of law enforcement misconduct, calling it a “complex doctrine” that requires “not only a careful understanding of an ever-evolving legal doctrine, but mastery of a complex set of facts.” 

“Zoe and Rahni put in countless hours, both researching the law and carefully marshalling the factual record in this case to craft arguments on behalf of their client,” Ginsberg said. 

“This case is a perfect example of why clinical work is so important in law school,” Stewart said. “Not only did it teach me so much about refining my practical skills, like researching and how to navigate the federal appellate system, but it also taught me about how much emotional weight and strength it takes to advocate for clients.” 

Burke, who graduated from Cardozo last year, said that her time in the clinic taught her an incredible amount about appellate litigation and advocacy, and it afforded her the rare opportunity to fully brief an appeal during law school. Since graduating, she began a fellowship doing litigation and advocacy around collateral civil rights issues that individuals in immigration detention face. 

“My time working on this case in the Clinic solidified my continued commitment to this work, especially on behalf of people most vulnerable to civil rights abuses in this country” Burke said. “I am thrilled to have been on this team and even more so because of the outcome for Ms. Thomas.”

Cardozo offers 11 in-house clinics that allow students to gain hands-on experience in different practice areas and gives them the chance to learn what it is like to represent clients before graduating from law school. Learn more about Cardozo's clinics here.