“#qualifiedimmunity “reflects a deep distrust of ordinary people” in direct conflict w/the Constit. In the same way we trust the collective judgment of voters in #elections we must trust the judgment of jurors in deciding cases, Reeves wrote. They can resolve tensions & contradictions case by case, as the evidence dictates. All #judges must do is tell jurors the truth.” -Judge Carlton Reeves, US Dist Court, MS
Clark Neily on X: "Judge Carlton Reeves has criticized #QualifiedImmunity before, but wow, he really cut loose this time. It's extremely rare for a sitting judge to express this level of disdain for a legal doctrine that #SCOTUS has consistently and repeatedly affirmed. /1 https://t.co/1TdShAVOdChttps://t.co/Z58WxY3TSU" / X
Via Robyn Sanders (asst. Fed defender, PA)
9:34 PM · May 20, 2024
"In a 62-page scorcher, J. Reeves methodically incinerates #QualifiedImmunity (QI) as having "no basis in law" & being an "extra-constitutional affront." This opinion could finally spell the end for the doctrine. REQUIRED READING for all who yearn for accountability & #justice. 🧵
"Critically, J. Reeves emphasizes that QI "disproportionately bars justice for Black victims of government misconduct." The opinion is loaded with powerful footnotes documenting extensive research showing QI's egregious racially discriminatory impact."
"This decision is a landmark in both constitutional analysis and potential civil rights impact. I believe litigant and courts will be parsing this decision for years as the fate of QI is reconsidered."
Contrary to the propaganda I was sold in elementary school, the #cops are NOT our friends and do NOT exist to "protect and serve" anything other than the status quo of white power and privilege (and/or their own violent sociopathy).
A #Texas#police SWAT team got a warrant to raid a house. They checked Google maps, got the address and went there to carry out the raid.
They did not check that the address or the appearance of the building matched the warrant before breaking down the door, throwing flashbang grenades into the house, and eventually holding the family that lived there, including children, at gunpoint.
Of course, the warrant was actually for the neighboring house.
In most of the world, this would be considered a gross violation of the #rights of the family that was raided, but in the 5th Circuit of the United States, the officers faced zero accountability and the family was told to suck it up and deal with it.
The largest ever study of #QualifiedImmunity cases, “Unaccountable” finds the doctrine shields a wider array of officials and conduct than commonly thought while unacceptably burdening victims of government abuse and failing at its goals.
GOP judges are despicable: 5th Circuit grants qualified immunity to cops who, as Judge Willett points out, weren't acting in a dangerous situation in which split-second decisions had to be made but instead "spent several months plotting" to arrest a journalist they didn't like. -Lawrence Hurley.
SCOTUSBlog's petition of the week asks: Is a prison guard entitled to #QualifiedImmunity after making a 67yo man with diabetes wounds on his ankles stand in feces-strewn shower water for 30 minutes, sending him back to #SolitaryConfinement with feces on his legs, and refusing him additional showers for a week?
(The man developed an infection and heart problems, requiring emergency surgery)
A 17-year-old girl goes on a ride-along with a police officer, who allegedly sexually assaulted and harassed her multiple times.
Per the appellate court, the complaint described "a day-long sequence of inappropriate comments and questions punctuated by unwelcome physical sexual contacts."
The district judge - an Obama appointee! - ruled that the cop gets #QualifiedImmunity and dismissed the case.
A Georgia man was arrested for a probation violation. The problem? His probation was already over when he allegedly violated it. But his PO relied on a miscalculated date, so the man spent a month in jail.
The court concludes the error was merely negligent and not reckless or intentional. You know what this means: #QualifiedImmunity defeats the man's lawsuit. He won't recover anything for the time he was wrongfully jailed.
I'm a bit bothered by this unpublished #11thCircuit decision released yesterday.
FL law prohibits video recording in sensitive areas. Cops got a warrant allowing video 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 of a spa where sex acts were alleged, but which was silent on 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 the video.
Cops record a man in the spa. He sues. 11th Circuit affirms a finding of #QualifiedImmunity, essentially on the logic that video recording was allowed because the warrant did not expressly prohibit it.