Tag: qualified immunity

We’re the Only Ones Indemnified Enough

Donald Trump’s promise to “restore law and order” by indemnifying police officers “against any and all liability” appeals to that sentiment, even as it underestimates the difficulty of successfully suing police officers and overlooks the fact that cops already are routinely indemnified against damages when plaintiffs manage to overcome the barrier created by qualified immunity. [More]

Yet much of the non-critical thinking audience practically orgasmed when he announced it.

USA! USA!

[Via Michael G]

We’re the Only Ones Bending Knees Enough

Supreme Court sides with woman forced to her knees by police when she was 83 [More]

Looks like they don’t get qualified immunity for this one, but what I’m not clear on is does the department pay or the officers themselves, or all? And will she still be alive to collect by the time this settles?

[Via Michael G]

We’re the Only Ones Qualified Enough

In 2018, then-Scott County Police Deputy Jaime Morales was partially paralyzed after he was shot in the back by then-Georgetown Police Officer Joseph Enricco during a standoff with a fugitive at a rest stop off I-75… The circuit court ruled that the officer defendants in the case were entitled to qualified immunity because, “as a society, we have decided that law enforcement officers deserve special protection.” [More]

Hoist with their own petard…

[Via Michael G]

The Immunity Syndrome

When Matthew sued the judge for these egregious violations of constitutional rights, Goldston argued that she could not be sued even if she had violated the Constitution by invoking judicial immunity. [More]

Making people you persecute believe they have no legal recourse seems like an invitation to try it another way.

[Via Michael G]

Police Shooting Victim Disputes County Attorney’s Attempt to Have Complaint Dismissed

Kloepfer’s assertions against the County Attorney’s Motion to dismiss reject his claims, citing precedents, arguing qualified immunity does not apply because “Defendant Brown published a press release he knew or should have known to be false to ‘control the narrative’ about misconduct in a malicious and corrupt manner that constituted conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice”… [More]

The defense of the indefensible continues.

Just Like the Framers Intended

If it sounds like these authors, Guha Krishnamurthi (University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law) and Peter Salib (University of Houston Law Center) are hinting that cops just violate second amendment rights under the color of law based on the protections police enjoy virtually everywhere and in most, if not all, circumstances, you’d be wrong. They say, “The officer’s justifications may conflict with the federal courts’ understanding of Bruen or the Second Amendment—perhaps flagrantly.” [More]

Funny… if they’re going to override Bruen, they don’t cite any Founding Era text, history, and traditions for enforcer supremacy over citizens’ unalienable rights…

Speaking of which, you’d think ol’ Guha would know better than to side with the Red Coats…

We’re the Only Ones Susceptible Enough

Police in California are not immune from civil lawsuits for misconduct that happens while they investigate crimes, the state Supreme Court ruled this week, overruling a precedent made by lower courts that had helped protect law enforcement from litigation for decades. [More]

Good. Maybe. Before cheering too loudly, consider the inevitable increased lawlessness and demands for more citizen disarmament.

[Via Michael G]

Qualified Impunity

All to say, the Supreme Court’s original justification for qualified
immunity—that Congress wouldn’t have abrogated common-law
immunities absent explicit language—is faulty because the 1871 Civil Rights Act expressly included such language. Those sixteen lost words, by presumably encompassing state common-law principles, undermine the doctrine’s long professed foundation and underscore that what the 1871 Congress meant for state actors who violate Americans’ federal rights is not immunity, but liability—indeed, liability notwithstanding any state law to the contrary. [More]

So the whole scam is exactly that, and it’s within the power of the Supreme Court to end it…?

[Via Michael G]

We’re the Only Ones Humorless Enough

A Louisiana man is fighting in court for the First Amendment right to express satire after he made a joke about COVID-19, and was arrested by a sheriff’s armed SWAT team that confronted him with guns drawn. [More]

Talk about deprivation of rights under color of authority…

The only thing they’re laughing about is their qualified immunity.

We’re the Only Ones Fearful Enough

US Supreme Court Gives Police Green Light To Preemptively Shoot & Kill Drivers They Fear Could Pose Danger To Others With Their Car [More]

Despite the science telling us:

When it comes to assessments of risk, there may be no more pertinent emotion than fear.

Just the kind of mental state that ought to “earn” a qualified immunity license to kill, no?

[Via Dan Gifford]

We’re the Only Ones Partially Qualified Enough

Windsor officers sued over traffic stop of Black man protected from some claims, judge rules [More]

Some general rules of thumb that work most of the time and have kept me from being assaulted and kidnapped on more than one occasion: Be the adult on the scene. Don’t argue and resist. By the same token, don’t consent and/or volunteer information. File any resulting complaints when you’re safe.

[Via Mack H]

We’re the Only Ones Unqualified Enough

A U.S. appeals court sided with the Kansas district court in denying Officer Rapp qualified immunity in Finch’s death The court said a reasonable jury could believe Finch was unarmed and unthreatening when Rapp fired the shot that killed him. [More]

So why is he only facing a civil trial and what does that tell us about department policy and the prosecutor?

[Via Michael G]

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