GREENSBORO, MD - The ACLU of Maryland has announced the family and the Coalition for Justice for Anton Black have settled their federal lawsuit against the Maryland Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, years after Black’s death in 2018.
Nearly a year ago, the ACLU added new evidence in their suit alleging the Chief Medical Examiner displayed a pattern of behavior that protected police officers in custody death cases and knowingly supported false narratives.
The ACLU claims this settlement with the Maryland Medical Examiner is the first of its kind in the state.
The settlement requires reforms within the Maryland Office of the Chief Medical Examiner including the following:
-Adoption of a policy explicitly addressing how medical examiners are to handle deaths in custody.
-Requiring documentation of all sources of initial investigative information and disclosure of any law enforcement or other personnel present for an autopsy.
-In-custody death investigations and autopsies must be performed impartially.
-Non-OCME personnel are prohibited from providing input about the autopsy, inspection or examination.
-Prior to release, all completed autopsy reports are presented and the Chief Medical Examiner or Deputy must review the file prior to approving its release.
In 2018, Greensboro police were called on reports of 19-year-old Anton Black dragging a younger boy down the street. Police reportedly treated it as a suspected kidnapping, while Black’s family has maintained the two were friends and the boy wasn’t in danger.
Police body cameras show Black running from police and locking himself in a car, shortly before officers forcibly removed him from the vehicle. A struggle ensued, and Black was wrestled down and pinned by police. Black became unresponsive during the struggle and was later declared dead at the hospital.
Black’s death sparked widespread outrage on Delmarva and drew national attention. In 2021, the Maryland General Assembly passed Anton’s Law, aimed at making police discipline records more easily available to the community.
The family had previously settled a wrongful death lawsuit against the Maryland towns of Greensboro, Ridgely, and Centreville, as well as multiple police personnel last August. That settlement required police reforms in the three towns in addition to $5 million in relief to the family.