Human Rights Commission v. Assad

We are concerned here with the extent, if any, to which the plaintiff Human Rights Commission of Worcester (commission) may consider and deal with a complaint alleging that police officers exercised unnecessary force in effecting an arrest.

In April, 1973, Richard and Stanley Stopyra filed complaints with the commission charging the Worcester police department and the five defendant police officers “with unlawful discrimination” against them because of “police brutality” on the night of February 21, 1973. The commission scheduled a hearing on the complaints, and a subpoena was issued to each…