Brown v. City of Oneonta

The panel opinion, Brown v. Oneonta, 221 F.3d 329 (2nd Cir.2000), fails adequately to deal with a fundamental issue raised by the plaintiffs’ allegations. It does so in contravention of established precedents of the Supreme Court of the United States and of our court. Because of this failure, the panel is led, unnecessarily I think, to express views on a topic that is both complex and divisive. All this occurs in a context — police investigations in which race is a factor — that implicates some of the deepest and most searing questions in our society. I believe that review of the panel’s…