Kramer Levin Files Suit on Behalf of Family Seeking Information about the Murder of Amber Clark

On June 30, 2020, Kramer Levin and co-counsel Everytown Law filed a lawsuit in the Superior Court of the State of California for the County of Sacramento on behalf of family members of Amber Clark, a Sacramento librarian who was murdered in December 2018. The lawsuit seeks records from the Sacramento Police Department and District Attorney’s Office under the California Public Records Act, including information about the firearm used to kill Amber and the manner in which her assailant was able to obtain it. 

According to the lawsuit, the assailant, who has been charged with first-degree murder and is detained pending trial, had a long history of mental health issues, threatening behavior at public libraries, and encounters with law enforcement in both California and Missouri, where he previously lived. Notwithstanding this, he was able to acquire the firearm used to kill Amber. The Sacramento Police Department and District Attorney’s Office have refused to turn over the requested information to Amber’s husband, mother, and sister. These public records contain critical information that plaintiffs can use to seek both policy changes and civil redress. They hope that, in doing so, they may prevent similar tragedies from occurring in the future.

The Kramer Levin team includes Litigation partner Darren LaVerne, associates John McNulty and Anna Boltyanskiy, with assistance from associate Austin Manes of Kramer Levin’s Menlo Park, California office. Co-counsel Everytown Law is the litigation arm of Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund. Everytown is the nation’s largest gun violence prevention organization, with nearly six million supporters in all fifty states fighting for public safety measures that respect the Second Amendment and help save lives.

Read the complaint here and the press release here. The case was covered by multiple news outlets, including KCRA3 (NBC), KMAX (CW) Good Day, KFBK Afternoon News, CBS Sacramento (CBS13), FOX 40.