A Study of What Police Know About Court Decisions Exposes 'Qualified Immunity's Boldest Lie'
27 October 2021
reason.com
27 October 2021
In two cases it decided last fall and last winter, the U.S. Supreme Court suggested that it might be prepared to limit the scope of qualified immunity, a doctrine that shields police officers and other government officials from federal liability for violating people's constitutional rights unless the alleged misconduct ran afoul of "clearly established" law. In two decisions issued last week, by contrast, the Court complicated the puzzle of how plaintiffs can hope to satisfy that test. The Court reaffirmed its prior statement that qualified immunity protects "all but the plainly incompetent or those who knowingly violate the law"—a standard ...
A Study of What Police Know About Court Decisions Exposes 'Qualified Immunity's Boldest Lie'
The Supreme Court's notion of "fair notice," which it says requires blocking many civil rights lawsuits, is based on a demonstrably false assumption.
reason.com