PROFILE
PROFILE
George Floyd family attorney, Jeff Storms, with Floyd’s brothers and others, speaks during a press conference outside the U.S. District Court in St. Paul, Minnesota, on December 15, 2021.
Photo by Kerem Yucel/AFP
BENDING the ARC of JUSTICE JEFF STORMS’ FIGHT FOR CIVIL RIGHTS By SHEREE R. CURRY
It’s a Monday evening in April in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota. A balloon release and candlelight vigil signal the one-year “angelversary” for Daunte Wright, the young man fatally shot by officer Kim Potter, who stated she intended to pull her taser but instead had pulled her gun. Civil rights attorney Jeff Storms ‘06 J.D. is here, beside the Wright family. While his presence is not required as part of his role pursuing a wrongful death lawsuit against the north suburban
Minneapolis city, he says that to be a successful civil rights lawyer “it is a complete life commitment.” Storms built his practice representing the families of those killed or injured due to unconstitutional conduct or negligence by government officials from police officers to child protection case workers. It’s emotional for him and for the families. He takes solace in knowing that his work allows for justice, accountability and healing, while also impacting
the administration of justice in ongoing efforts to obtain the equitable application of legal right and law. Two years ago, a month before Wright died, Storms and his co-counsels, Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci, negotiated an unprecedented $27 million pre- trial settlement with the City of Minneapolis on behalf of George Floyd’s next-of-kin. Storms’ advocacy goes beyond a monetary outcome; it is after change – change in the way the
civil justice system both sees and responds to systemic racism. This change can be made whether a civil rights case settles pre-trial or has the facts roll out to a jury. Civil rights Section 1983 litigation is nuanced. Legal concepts such as qualified immunity, deliberate indifference and Monell doctrine require a level of understanding and advocacy that can tip cases in favor of the plaintiff under the most exacting review and evaluation of a judge. For a complicated civil rights case
to make it to trial, civil rights lawyers must navigate a maze of procedural challenges because there are multiple opportunities for the district court and appellate courts to dismiss the claim for failure to meet a legal standard or the requirements of the law. As a nationally recognized civil rights lawyer, Crump states, “In Minnesota, we just haven’t found anyone who understands 1983 litigation better than Jeff Storms.” He notes that such cases don’t
always advance. “Probably 90% of the cases with death by excessive use of force are dismissed on qualified immunity – that means families don’t get any justice in criminal courts nor in the civil courts.” This is why Crump, Storms and other civil rights advocates argue strenuously for the abolition of qualified immunity, a doctrine that Storms says unjustly prevents holding government actors accountable for violations of constitutional rights.
Page 12 St. Thomas Lawyer
Summer 2022 Page 13
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