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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsPolice act like laws don't apply to them because of 'qualified immunity.' They're right.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2020/05/30/police-george-floyd-qualified-immunity-supreme-court-column/5283349002/There's a legal obstacle that's nearly impossible to overcome when police officers and government officials violate our constitutional and civil rights.
But when Floyds family goes to court to hold the officers liable for their actions, a judge in Minnesota may very well dismiss their claims. Not because the officers didnt do anything wrong, but because there isnt a case from the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals or the Supreme Court specifically holding that it is unconstitutional for police to kneel on the neck of a handcuffed man for eight minutes until he loses consciousness and then dies.
And such a specific case is what Floyds family must provide to overcome a legal doctrine called qualified immunity that shields police and all other government officials from accountability for their illegal and unconstitutional acts.
The Supreme Court created qualified immunity in 1982. With that novel invention, the court granted all government officials immunity for violating constitutional and civil rights unless the victims of those violations can show that the rights were clearly established.
A virtually unlimited protection
Although innocuous sounding, the clearly established test is a legal obstacle thats nearly impossible to overcome. It requires a victim to identify an earlier decision by the Supreme Court or a federal appeals court in the same jurisdiction holding that precisely the same conduct under the same circumstances is illegal or unconstitutional. If none exists, the official is immune. Whether the officials actions are unconstitutional, intentional, or malicious is irrelevant to the test.
But when Floyds family goes to court to hold the officers liable for their actions, a judge in Minnesota may very well dismiss their claims. Not because the officers didnt do anything wrong, but because there isnt a case from the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals or the Supreme Court specifically holding that it is unconstitutional for police to kneel on the neck of a handcuffed man for eight minutes until he loses consciousness and then dies.
And such a specific case is what Floyds family must provide to overcome a legal doctrine called qualified immunity that shields police and all other government officials from accountability for their illegal and unconstitutional acts.
The Supreme Court created qualified immunity in 1982. With that novel invention, the court granted all government officials immunity for violating constitutional and civil rights unless the victims of those violations can show that the rights were clearly established.
A virtually unlimited protection
Although innocuous sounding, the clearly established test is a legal obstacle thats nearly impossible to overcome. It requires a victim to identify an earlier decision by the Supreme Court or a federal appeals court in the same jurisdiction holding that precisely the same conduct under the same circumstances is illegal or unconstitutional. If none exists, the official is immune. Whether the officials actions are unconstitutional, intentional, or malicious is irrelevant to the test.
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Police act like laws don't apply to them because of 'qualified immunity.' They're right. (Original Post)
CousinIT
May 2020
OP
Alacritous Crier
(3,818 posts)1. QI needs to be gotten rid of soon...
policing in America is a broken system.
SheltieLover
(57,073 posts)2. More Reagan era crap 🤬
I hope Joe has this in his sights to undo this horrible policy!
Thank you for bringing this to light!
dalton99a
(81,570 posts)5. +1. "Whether the official's actions are unconstitutional, intentional, or malicious is irrelevant"
SheltieLover
(57,073 posts)7. Like so much of what they formulate
Creating immunity so they can run amok. 🤬
Those in public office and those in law enforcement should be held to a MUCH higher standard.
This is, likely, imo, at the base of many racially-based police murders! And so much more!
raging moderate
(4,308 posts)3. So why did a black cop get 12 years for killing a white woman?
12 years in jail because he made a split-second panicky mistake in the dark!
dalton99a
(81,570 posts)4. Qualified immunity for cops is an absolute obscenity
and an affront to any modern democracy
Mike 03
(16,616 posts)6. I'm hoping there's more to this story.
Not that long ago I watched officer Amber Guyger convicted of murdering Botham Jean. That was a strange case and I doubt there an exact, precise legal precedent, "same conduct under the same circumstances".