Washington Lawyer - September/October 2024 - 14

FEATURE
S
EMPTY
SEATS
DELAYED
JUSTICE
By John Murph
Getty Images/E+
14 WASHINGTON LAWYER
* SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2024
,
hahioa Gans has been seeking justice from
the Superior Court of the District of Columbia
since November 2022.
In January that year, Gans was stopped by a Metropolitan Police Department
(MPD) officer for an alleged minor traffic violation. " When I pulled
the car over, it ended up being four different [police] officers, " Gans recalls,
her voice trembling. Then one of the officers pointed a gun to her
head, Gans alleges. " I was in shock. I just didn't understand why I was
getting a gun pulled on me for just driving down the street. "
The police officer issued Gans $530 worth of tickets for not having
proof of car insurance. " I was trying to produce my insurance card, but
I couldn't because my hands were just shaking, " says Gans. At the time
of the incident, Gans was recovering from COVID-19, pneumonia, and
radiation treatment for cancer.
Afterward, Gans went to the MPD's seventh district station to report the
incident and show her proof of insurance to get the tickets dropped. In
November 2022, as a pro se litigant, Gans filed a civil lawsuit in D.C. Superior
Court against the police officer who pulled out a gun. Court records
indicate that she's seeking a money judgment.
" I wake up crying; I constantly think about what [the police officer] did, "
Gans wrote in her legal complaint. " I feel humiliated, depressed, and traumatized. "
Gans says she suffered from depression and began seeing a
therapist.
The delays in her case began with difficulties serving the defendant.
Gans later retained Yaida O. Ford, principal of Ford Law Pros, P.C., who
successfully served the defendant in July 2023. The case seemed to be
on track, albeit with discovery delays, but scheduling conferences kept
getting pushed until late July 2024.
" How can I move forward and heal when each time I'm due to go to
court [I receive a notice] saying that it's canceled, then rescheduled, then
rescheduled again? " Gans says. " I can't get better if the case is stuck in
court. "
Ford says the delays in the case are due to a shortage of D.C. court judges.
" In D.C. Superior Court, delays are agonizing. " Ford says. " The civil
docket is already heavy with motions practice. If you couple that with
government defendants who intentionally drag their feet in the discovery
process, it creates a frustrating experience that is devastating to my
practice and to my client's perception of the court. Justice delayed is justice
denied, no matter the root cause of the delay. "
SOUNDING THE ALARM
For the past several years, D.C. Superior Court Chief Judge Anita JoseyHerring
and Court of Appeals Chief Judge Anna Blackburne-Rigsby have

Washington Lawyer - September/October 2024

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