UPDATE at 1 p.m. on Friday
Earlier today the told East Haven Patch that Mayor Maturo would not be making any additional comments on this case's newest developments.
ORIGINAL STORY
Citing a need to find justice for the racial profiling she alleges led to her son's death, Emma Jones will file an appeal with the United States Supreme Court in an effort to continue to move forward the wrongful death lawsuit she brought against the town for the by an East Haven Police officer.
"I believe that I must — that I don't have a choice in the matter — that I absolutely must continue to cry out, to the legal system to act on both its moral and legal obligation to right the very wrong that I know that has been done to my son, my family and this community," Jones told reporters during a press conference at her 's New Haven office late this afternoon.
Jones said she stood before thousands of people in 1997 and "declared that but for racial profiling my son Malik would be alive."
She added that she also vowed at that time to "fight for righteousness and justice."
"Not only in the case for Malik, but for all humanity. And to try right the wrongs that I saw was widespread in East Haven," she said. "So today I am here to try to reaffirm that statement."
Federal Appeals Court Ruling
Today's announcement from Jones comes after the the Town of East Haven is not liable for her son's shooting.
The decision — which found there was insufficient evidence to hold East Haven liable — overturned a lower court's ruling in October 2010 that .
The town of that 2010 ruling, which is what led to Wednesday's decision by the 2nd Circuit court.
When asked about what her feelings were regarding yesterday's ruling in favor of the town, Jones said they were "unspeakable."
She said she feels racial profiling existed in East Have "prior to the taking of my son Malik Jones' life... and as a matter of fact today as we sit here."
And Jones added that the U.S. Justice Department referred to her lawsuit as part of into alleged .
"I am very confident that I was right then, and that I am right now," Jones said of her case.
'It's A Long Shot'
Rosen said they will now have 90 days from yesterday (Aug. 1) to file the necessary paperwork to petition the U.S. Supreme Court to hear their appeal.
When asked by reporters if he felt it would be "a long shot" for the case to be among the few selected each session to be heard by the nation's top justices, Rosen replied that "every case in the Supreme Court is a long shot."
"Every time somebody tries to right a wrong, it's a long shot," he said.
'Clearly a Wrong That Was Done'
Toward the end of the press conference, Jones was asked her response to that the federal appeals court's ruling was "a victory."
She responded that no matter the latest legal verdict, the shooting death of her son was "clearly a wrong that was done."
"And so I can't define what the mayor believed to be a victory for him. But when there is an injustice or a wrong and it causes loss of life or pain and suffering to other human beings," Jones said. "I have a difficult time encapsulating that as a victory in any level. I'm speaking for myself, I can't speak for anyone else."
The Mayor's Office did not immediately return a late afternoon phone call and email for comment from East Haven Patch.
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(Editor's Note: Additional reporting and video were added to this post at 9:30 p.m.)
