WHAT:

       The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida has ruled that Zachary Cruz’s lawsuit against the Broward County Sheriff’s Office can move forward, substantiating Cruz’s claims of 14th amendment violations and false imprisonment.
 

According to the lawsuit, Cruz, the younger brother of Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz, was targeted, harassed, and tortured by Broward authorities. Following an arrest for skateboarding on school property and posting the required $25 bail, Cruz’s bond was unreasonably reset to an excessive $500,000. Cruz was illegally held after posting his $25 bond without just cause. Broward County officials then engaged in a campaign of intimidation and torture once he was in the Broward main jail facility, including the use of a restraint vest 24-hours per day and sleep deprivation tactics such as guards repeatedly waking him at all hours and the use of 24-hour intense lighting.

 
Federal Courts have now agreed that Cruz’s lawsuit plausibly alleges that Broward County Officials’, notably Captain Sherea Green’s, decision to detain Plaintiff following his posting of bond amounted to more than mere negligence. The court has also stated that the decision by Captain Green and her subordinates to continue Cruz’s detention following his posting of bond, as alleged by Cruz and implicitly conceded by Captain Green, was intentional, and therefore rose above the “mere negligence” required to maintain a claim for deliberate indifference to Plaintiff’s right to be released.
 
The original lawsuit was funded in May of 2018 by Nexus Services Inc., a leading provider of services and resources to help detained persons; and filed by Nexus Derechos Humanos Attorneys, Inc., a pro bono civil-rights law firm committed to holding public officials accountable.
 

WHEN:

 Tuesday, January 8, 2019
 

WHO:

Zachary Cruz, Plaintiff
Mike Donovan, President and CEO, Nexus Services Inc.
 

WHERE:

 Broward County Justice Center
555 SE 1st Ave
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301

Nexus Derechos Humanos Attorneys, Inc. is a pro bono civil-rights law firm committed to holding public officials accountable for placing money or politics above the lives of human beings, protecting due-process rights to be free from government coercion and demanding justice and enforcement of hard-won civil rights. http://www.ndhlawyers.com/

Nexus Services, Inc. is a leading provider of immigrant bail securitization and electronic monitoring. The organization funds Nexus Derechos Humanos Attorneys, Inc. as a part of its corporate giving to increase access to justice for disadvantaged people across the United States. http://www.nexushelps.com/