Lawyers told to apologize for blasting recorded screams in a Philly neighborhood

PHILADELPHIA — Lawyers who blared a repeated recording of a woman screaming as a test in their civil rights case against the city of Philadelphia must apologize personally and in writing to residents where the loud test took place, a federal judge ordered last week.

U.S. Judge John F. Murphy on Thursday described the hours-long pre-dawn test on September 23 as lacking foresight and judgment, resulting in “a deeply troubling and potentially dangerous situation.” He gave attorneys who oversaw the recorded screams from the loudspeaker in south Philadelphia until the end of October to apologize to people living in the neighborhood, about a block from the intersection of South Broad Street and Passyunk Avenue.

“It was so shocking,” neighbor Rachel Robbins told The Philadelphia Inquirer. “It was just really horrible.”

The attorneys represent a man who is suing the city and several officers over his arrest, conviction and 19 years in prison for assault before the conviction was vacated in 2020. The man was shot three times by police at the scene.

The lawsuit focuses on whether the man, who said he was trying to help the victim in the case, could have heard the woman’s screams two blocks away.

The loudspeaker was placed near terraced houses and a daycare center that was preparing for the opening of the day. Murphy wrote that neighbors were angry because some saw children entering the daycare as the recording played.

“Plaintiff’s counsel’s disregard for community members did not meet the ethical standards to which all attorneys practicing in this district must adhere,” the judge wrote.

The apology must explain “their transgression,” Murphy wrote, and “take full responsibility for the consequences of the shout test.”

A telephone message seeking comment was left Tuesday for attorneys representing the man suing the city.