Christopher Dunn

April 05, 2017 | New York Law Journal

Civil Rights and Civil Liberties columnist Christopher Dunn writes: Disputes about the standards governing the interaction between the Fifth Amendment's protection against compelled testimony and statutes compelling witness testimony were settled in the aftermath of the Communist "witch hunts"—a term President Trump ironically invoked last week—of the 1950s, but the burgeoning contemporary Russia investigations provide a good opportunity to review those standards and the history behind them, which implicate some of our most fundamental constitutional values.

By Christopher Dunn

20 minute read

February 01, 2017 | New York Law Journal

In his Civil Rights and Civil Liberties column, Christopher Dunn previews the Supreme Court arguments in an excessive force case where police entered a residence without knocking or identifying themselves and, finding one of the residents pointing what appeared to be a rifle at them, fired 15 shots. In fact, it was a a BB gun that the resident was in the process of moving when officers entered.

By Christopher Dunn

20 minute read

November 30, 2016 | New York Law Journal

In his Civil Rights and Civil Liberties column, Christopher Dunn discusses the civil rights philosophy that President-Elect Donald Trump brings to the presidency and examines the ways in which Trump will be able to affect civil rights on the federal and local level.

By Christopher Dunn

18 minute read

August 04, 2016 | New York Law Journal

In his Civil Rights and Civil Liberties column, Christopher Dunn writes: Earlier this summer, the NYPD—the nation's largest and most influential police department—rolled out new use-of-force policies that have received precious little scrutiny. In light of the ongoing debate about police use of force, it is worth revisiting the constitutional standards and examining the new NYPD policies.

By Christopher Dunn

16 minute read

July 13, 2016 | New York Law Journal

Guilt is a powerful human emotion, and white guilt is what Lewis Steel places at the heart of his autobiographical recounting of his storied career as a civil rights lawyer.

By Christopher Dunn

10 minute read

February 04, 2016 | New York Law Journal

In his Civil Rights and Civil Liberties column, Christopher Dunn writes: The propriety of disciplining a lawyer for disclosing confidential client information seems like a pretty straightforward proposition. But that proposition gets more complicated when the lawyer is a public employee, the disclosure is about egregious unlawful conduct and is made to a newspaper reporter, and the client is the government.

By Christopher Dunn

11 minute read

December 04, 2015 | New York Law Journal

In his Civil Rights and Civil Liberties column, Christopher Dunn writes: Against the backdrop of what seems like an endless stream of gun-fueled violence, the courts have been grappling with a wave of legal challenges being brought by gun-rights activists emboldened by recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions that breathed life into the long-dormant Second Amendment. The Second Circuit had issued several significant rulings before this year, but a decision it issued six weeks ago is its most important to date until the Supreme Court wades back into this contentious area.

By Christopher Dunn

11 minute read

December 03, 2015 | New York Law Journal

In his Civil Rights and Civil Liberties column, Christopher Dunn writes: Against the backdrop of what seems like an endless stream of gun-fueled violence, the courts have been grappling with a wave of legal challenges being brought by gun-rights activists emboldened by recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions that breathed life into the long-dormant Second Amendment. The Second Circuit had issued several significant rulings before this year, but a decision it issued six weeks ago is its most important to date until the Supreme Court wades back into this contentious area.

By Christopher Dunn

11 minute read

October 02, 2015 | New York Law Journal

In his Civil Rights and Civil Liberties column, Christopher Dunn writes: Last week's government-papal engagement refocused attention on a long-standing concern of mine about an invocation of God found throughout New York's judicial system. Every time I appear in a courtroom with the words "In God We Trust" on the walls behind judges' benches, I am troubled by the suggestion of divine oversight of the judiciary.

By Christopher Dunn

10 minute read

October 01, 2015 | New York Law Journal

In his Civil Rights and Civil Liberties column, Christopher Dunn writes: Last week's government-papal engagement refocused attention on a long-standing concern of mine about an invocation of God found throughout New York's judicial system. Every time I appear in a courtroom with the words "In God We Trust" on the walls behind judges' benches, I am troubled by the suggestion of divine oversight of the judiciary.

By Christopher Dunn

10 minute read