About Price And Associates
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Attorney Pamela Y. Price founded Price And Associates in June 1991 with a vision to establish a minority- and woman-owned litigation Firm in Oakland, California. In the 21 years since its inception, the Firm has evolved into a premier civil rights practice with a wealth of experience in federal court litigation.
For more information, visit our website at www.pypesq.com.
To submit a Potential Client Questionnaire, go to Contact Us.
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Pamela Price
selected as a 2012
California Super Lawyer
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Friday, October 12, 2012
Hayward
South Alameda County NAACP
Award Dinner
Pamela Y. Price to Receive 34th Annual Community Service Award
6:00 p.m. Silent Auction
7:00-9:00 Award Ceremony
Marriott Fremont
Silicon Valley Hotel
46100 Landing Parkway Fremont, CA 94538
For information or tickets, call the Hayward South Alameda County NAACP
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November 8-11, 2012
Consumer Attorneys
Of California
CAOC 51st
Annual Convention
Keynote:
Kamala Harris
California Attorney General
Pamela Y. Price
Panelist on
Employment Law Toolbox
Sunday, November 11, 2012
9:00 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
Palace Hotel
2 New Montgomery Street
San Francisco, CA 94105
To register or learn more:
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In Memoriam
 | David H. Price
January 29, 1931 -
August 14, 2012 |
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Chauncey Bailey
October 20, 1949 -
August 2, 2007
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- Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Welcome!
Integrity: "Adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty."
This issue focuses on the Oakland Police Department and what appears to be the never-ending saga of constitutional violations and illegal conduct. My Firm recently had the privilege of representing Lt. Fred Mestas in a gender discrimination trial and got a close up and personal "birdseye view" of the lack of integrity of OPD's command staff spanning from Chief Wayne Tucker through to our current chief, Howard Jordan. What I saw was very disturbing, but pales when you think about what happened to Chauncey Bailey, and what happened to hundreds of Black men in the "Riders" case and the strip search cases.
Men of integrity at the helm of OPD could have prevented the murder of my friend Chauncey Bailey on August 2, 2007. Men of integrity at the helm of OPD could have prevented the "Riders" from waging a campaign of terror in Oakland. Men of integrity at the helm of OPD would not have tolerated the kinds of despicable constitutional abuses documented in the strip search cases. Men of integrity at the helm of OPD would have meant that we would have some women at the helm by now. I was raised by a man of integrity - David H. Price (1931- 2012). I know what integrity looks like - I know what it means in the lives of people. We desperately need integrity of any kind at the helm of OPD.
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OPD in Receivership?
In the fall of 2012, the City of Oakland is facing a very real possibility that Federal Judge Thelton Henderson will place the Oakland Police Department under the control of a federal receiver. This possibility arises out of a case well known to Oakland residents as "the Riders" case. Filed in 2000 by attorneys John L. Burris, James B. Chanin and John H. Scott, the case named Allen v. City of Oakland, U.S. District Court Case No. C00-4599 TEH, included 119 Plaintiffs who alleged that OPD officers beat them, wrote up false police reports and planted drug evidence on them. A unanimous federal jury awarded the Plaintiffs $10.9 million. The City settled the case in 2004 and entered into a Negotiated Settlement Agreement (NSA) with the Plaintiffs, Messrs. Burris, Chanin and Scott to "promote police integrity and prevent [unconstitutional] conduct." The NSA's overall objective is to implement "the best available practices and procedures for police management" and to enhance OPD's ability "to protect the lives, rights, dignity and property of the community it serves." It includes a comprehensive list of 51 reform measures. An outside Monitor was hired by the Court to ensure OPD's compliance with the NSA.
Eight years later, the Monitor and the Plaintifffs' attorneys agree that OPD has failed to
comply with many key parts of the NSA. OPD is facing severe sanctions by the Court for its failure - City attorneys have been unable to demonstrate to the Court that OPD has complied with the NSA on a consistent basis. In a few weeks, Plaintiffs' attorneys will file a Motion to appoint a Receiver to take control of the OPD and oversee its operations in order to achieve the objectives of the NSA. If Judge Henderson grants the Motion, Oakland will be the first city in America to have its police department placed in receivership.
 | Burris prosecuted four Oakland police officers known as "the Riders," leading to a mandate for reforms
Photo: Russell Yip, The Chronicle / SF
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John L. Burris had led the effort to reform OPD while still representing victims of police
abuse. In late 2007, his Firm obtained a $6.2 million verdict in favor of Torry Smith, a parolee framed by OPD. In 2011, his Firm settled forty (40) cases based on the City's unconstitutional policy of allowing officers to "strip-search" men in public or in publicly observable places by forcing them to lower their pants exposing their genitals. For more information on the Smith v. City of Oakland case, see Case Highlights below. Burris recently told the San Francisco Chronicle: "I hope payouts big and small send a message to the department that they have to control their officers. I hope every one of these cases has caused the department to re-examine the facts and their systemic failures, and to take a closer look at their problem officers. And I'm disappointed when they don't."
OPD's continuing disregard for the lives and constitutional rights of its citizens is devastating for the community. Whether it's protecting Chauncey Bailey's life and our right to a free press, or respecting the individual's right, even a parolee's right, to personal dignity and security, OPD has failed us all.
To read more about John L. Burris' courageous advocacy on behalf of Oakland's citizens, click here.
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Attorney Price Encourages Black Law Students
 | | (L-R) Panelists Sita Upshaw, Joshua Hill, Pamela and Krystal Bowen |
On Saturday, September 8, 2012, Attorney Price took time out to encourage the Berkeley Law Students of African Descent (LSAD) to consider a career of service rather than following the preset track into corporate law. Hosted by LSAD at the University of California at Berkeley (Boalt Hall), the theme of the daylong retreat was "Achieving Excellence & Owning the Experience."
 | | Panelists share their expertise |
LSAD invited Attorney Price and other African-American attorneys of note to speak to students about their careers, including turning points, how they survived law school, what they would have done differently in law school, what was valuable from their law school experiences and what professional realities have they faced as attorneys of color.
Attorney Price's co-panelists included Joshua Hill, a partner with Sidley Austin, LLP, Krystal Bowen, a partner with Bingham McCutchen LLP and Sita Upshaw, in-house counsel with Prosper Marketplace. The attorneys lead the students through their personal journeys and a spirited discussion of options, considerations and challenges. Attorney Price urged the students to consider a life of service representing the community in private practice as plaintiff's lawyers and to remember that the practice of law is a business that must be nurtured and managed to be successful.
 | Prof. Melissa Murray (foreground) and future litigators and judges in the early stage of their legal journey
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 | | Attendees meet with panelists after the presentation |
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John Smith v. City of Oakland
Public Strip Searches Ruled Unconstitutional
In the summer of 2010, the City of Oakland and numerous Oakland police officers went on trial for allegations that the City had an unconstitutional policy of allowing officers to "strip-search" men in public or in publicly observable places by forcing them to lower their pants exposing their genitals. The trial was a "test case" for more than forty (40) other cases involving African-American men claiming that that they were "strip-searched" in public in hundreds of police stops between 2004 and 2007. The Plaintiffs were represented by the law offices of John L. Burris and James Chanin.
The evidence at trial established that four (4) police officers had unlawfully "strip searched" two (2) of the Plaintiffs on the street in front of a crowd. The evidence also showed that those same officers illegally detained one of the Plaintiffs and orchestrated his parole violation, resulting in him serving an additional five (5) months in prison. At the time, the Plaintiff had less than 30 days left on his parole. The evidence also showed that the officers left Oakland, drove the Plaintiff to Richmond, searched a house in Richmond without a warrant and left the house "in a state of disarray" without any notification to or documentation for the family living there.
On August 4, 2011, following a court-trial before the Hon. Judge Marilyn Hall Patel, the
Judge ruled that the City had allowed some officers to conduct public strip searches illegally. Judge Patel found that the constitutional rights of at least two of the Plaintiffs had clearly been violated and she awarded damages of $100,000 to one Plaintiff and $105,000 to another Plaintiff. She also found that officer Ingo Mayer acted with callous disregard and reckless indifference to the Fourth Amendment rights of the Plaintiffs and that two of the Plaintiffs were entitled to punitive damages against him.
Rather than try the remaining cases, the City decided in late 2011 to settle all of the cases. City Council approval of the settlement is pending.
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The Chauncey Bailey Project
Chauncey Wendell Bailey, 57, editor of several newspapers that covered African-American communities in the Bay Area, had been a prominent journalist in Oakland for many years. On August 2, 2007, as he was walking to work at the Oakland Post, a man wearing a ski mask with a 12-gauge Mossberg shotgun confronted him at the corner of 14th and Alice streets in downtown Oakland. After a brief struggle, the gunman purposefully assassinated Bailey with point-blank shots.
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Chauncey Bailey Crime Scene in downtown Oakland on August 2, 2007
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The Arrest
Police identified the attacker and arrested 19-year-old Devaughndre Broussard, an employee of Your Black Muslim Bakery, an institution in the San Francisco Bay Area. Broussard confessed to the killing, but ultimately testified that he was ordered to kill Bailey to stop him from writing a story about internal power struggles and financial problems at Your Black Muslim Bakery. Broussard pointed the finger at Yusuf Bey IV, 25, the bakery's CEO, stating that Bey convinced him Allah wanted him to kill Bailey to protect Bey IV and the bakery.
Your Black Muslim Bakery was founded in the early 1970s by Bey's father, Joseph Stephens, who later became a Muslim and took the name of Yusuf Bey. Bey fathered more than 40 children with at least 14 women and was facing charges of statutory rape and child abuse before he died of colon cancer in 2003. For more on Bey's mistreatment of children and women, see Yusuf Bey Abuse Victim Steps Forward.
On the day Bailey was killed, Bey IV was already facing nine separate criminal cases stretching over a two and a half year period.
Failure of the OPD
Chauncey Bailey's murder could have been prevented. Oakland Police suspected members of the bakery, including Bey IV, were involved in two murders which had occurred earlier that summer. OPD had the bakery and Bey IV under regular surveillance, including a GPS device installed on one of their vans. Convinced that a raid on the business could stem the violence and gather evidence of the two murders, OPD had planned a raid on the bakery for August 1st, the day before Bailey was gunned down. SWAT team members were on alert and had trained with the expectation of going in on August 1st. Special transport vehicles had been rented for that day. The raid was postponed to August 3rd, however, due to the vacation of two senior SWAT commanders who wanted to participate in the raid.
Chief Tucker postponed the raid to accommodate his vacationing commanders. At least one senior member of the OPD command staff strenuously objected and was overruled. After Bailey was killed, numerous OPD officers and Alameda County law enforcement officials confirmed the delay of the raid and the self-serving reason for it. OPD command denied any delay. Chief Tucker lied and stated that it was not postponed, then he admitted that it was planned for August 1st but claimed he delayed it due to "preparedness" issues. Chief Jordan lied and stated that he never knew the raid was planned for August 1st. Decisions made by OPD command clearly showed a callous disregard for an Oakland community in imminent danger to known criminals and most likely, cost Chauncey Bailey his life.
The Chauncey Bailey Project: "We will not be bullied"
Within weeks of Bailey's murder, a cooperative effort of many of his colleagues, Bay Area journalists, media outlets, nonprofits and schools became The Chauncey Bailey Project. The team resolved to expand upon Bailey's work as well as probe the circumstances of his death and its flimsy investigation by police. They came together with the goal to expose the truth and make the point that "You can't kill a story by killing a journalist." The team continued Bailey's investigation of the violence and financial fraud at Your Black Muslim Bakery which had gained much political clout and influence over 40 years. They examined the bakery's insidious relationships with local politicians, city and business officials and especially the bungled investigation of Bailey's murder by the Oakland Police Department (OPD). Bailey's investigation of decades of corruption inside OPD remains uncompleted.
Bay Area News Group investigative reporter Thomas Peele and member of The Chauncey Bailey Project, wrote "Killing the Messenger: A Story of Radical Faith, Racism's Backlash, and the Assassination of a Journalist." The book details the inception, expansion and crescendo of Oakland's Your Black Muslim Bakery and its criminal activities.
For a critical review of the book, visit: www theblackchaunceybaileyproject.blogspot.com
To learn more, visit: The Chauncey Bailey Project at www.chaunceybaileyproject.org.
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 Price And Associates
901 Clay Street Oakland, California 94607 (510) 452-0292 (510) 452-5625 (Fax) "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." -- Martin Luther King, Jr. |
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