Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #endqualifiedimmunity
Most recents (19)
🧵Something big happened yesterday that you might have missed. I did.
@RepPressley & @SenMarkey re-introduced legislation to END QUALIFIED IMMUNITY. Let’s support them on this fight. We can’t get justice for those brutalized & killed by police when police are protected from… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
@RepPressley & @SenMarkey re-introduced legislation to END QUALIFIED IMMUNITY. Let’s support them on this fight. We can’t get justice for those brutalized & killed by police when police are protected from… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
Qualified immunity protections have been expanded. It’s time for it to end.
#EndQualifiedImmunity
#EndQualifiedImmunity
What are cops afraid of? If they are doing their jobs properly, justly they have nothing to fear.
Qualified immunity protections have been abused.
#EndQualifiedImmunity
Qualified immunity protections have been abused.
#EndQualifiedImmunity
1/3 My @IJ colleague @benjaminafield and I discuss the frightening trend of cops arresting people for making jokes on social media. As we explain in @dcexaminer, they get away with it because courts have displaced @USConst_Amend_I with #QualifiedImmunity.
washingtonexaminer.com/restoring-amer…
washingtonexaminer.com/restoring-amer…
2/3 @IJ is litigating 2 different cases where this happened. The 1st, Novak v. Parma, is pending before #SCOTUS. There, police arrested Anthony after he parodied them on Facebook. This Friday (2/17), the Supreme Court will decide whether to hear the case.
ij.org/case/novak-v-p…
ij.org/case/novak-v-p…
3/3 @IJ is also litigating Bailey v. Iles, where cops raided and arrested Waylon Bailey for making a Zombie joke (with the hashtag #WeNeedYouBradPitt). That one's in the 5th Cir. If you care about the #FirstAmendment, we need to #EndQualifiedImmunity.
ij.org/case/bailey-v-…
ij.org/case/bailey-v-…
Something that deserves far more attention is that the police murders of George Floyd and Tyre Nichols (and many others) took place in front of multiple fellow officers who did nothing to protect the victim. This is like a flight crew doing nothing about a plainly drunk pilot. /1
What it conveys to me, among other things, is a deeply pathological institutional culture in which officers have internalized the notion that they are entitled to act as they see fit in the moment without being second-guessed—and certainly not by anyone who’s not a cop. /2
This is madness. People who are clothed with the extraordinary authority, discretion, and hardware that cops possess must understand that they are agents who must be willing and able to justify every decision they make on the job to the principles who hired and employ them—us. /3
Big day for rights-violating govt officials who desperately want avoid having to explain to civil jurors why they (1) set a man on fire with tasers to prevent him from setting himself on fire; and (2) put an avowedly suicidal, now-deceased man in a cell with an obvious ligature.
The first case with the taser-incineration is Ramirez v. Guardarrama, and the facts are even more horrific than I've described. Dissent from denial of cert by Sotomayor, Kagan, and Breyer. supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf…
The second case with the idiotic jailers who put a suicidal man in a cell with a means to kill himself and then failed to call 911 while watching him strangle to death is Cope v. Cogdill. Dissent from denial of cert by Sotomayor.
supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf…
supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf…
RETWEET‼️In 1955 the mother of Emmett Till made the choice to have an open casket after her sons brutal murder. She said “the people should see what I have seen” I’ve made that choice for Dante 💔 @endqiny citylimits.org/2022/05/19/opi… 🧵
What has changed? Acknowledge that racism in still an issue, it exists all around us. It’s sometimes hidden in shadows, behind smiles, behind fake actions behind court benches and even behind badges. In 1871 Congress passed the KKK act, allowing people to sue government officials
Who violated their civil rights after black propel were freed from slavery because many of those officials were actually KKK members. In 1967 the Supreme Court (Pierson v Ray) gutted that right by creating qualified immunity and in 1982 further gutted it (Harlow v Fitzgerald) by
This is a thread about the two most important qualified immunity cases on the Supreme Court's docket right now—and maybe ever. Earlier this year, the Fifth Circuit dismissed two Section 1983 cases against (1) TX jailers who did nothing as a suicidal inmate took his own life...
...right in front of them; and (2) TX cops who set a mentally ill man on fire in order to keep him from setting himself on fire (yes, you read that correctly). There's a word for people who need the amount of protection the CA5's qualified immunity doctrine provides: Monsters.
My friend Cate Stetson represents the petitioners in both cases. In her cert petitions (linked below), she dissects the respective CA5 decisions with surgical precision and demonstrates—respectfully but unsparingly—their flagrant departure from controlling legal standards.
Think you’re cynical enough about qualified immunity? Trust me, you’re not. Must-read from @radleybalko. I’ll screenshot key passages below. RT if you’ve had enough of QI already.
#AbolishQI
#EndQualifiedImmunity
@AbolishQI
@campaigntoendqi
washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
#AbolishQI
#EndQualifiedImmunity
@AbolishQI
@campaigntoendqi
washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
1. Cops commit indisputable rights violation.
CA10 bends over backwards to let them off the hook. (Must’ve been another day ending in Y.)
CA10: To be clear—you were specifically trained that people have a right to record you in public but you still abused this guy for recording you, and now you think you should get qualified immunity?
Cops: Uh...
CA10: Just messing with you—of COURSE you get QI. And next time too!
Cops: Uh...
CA10: Just messing with you—of COURSE you get QI. And next time too!
More sauce: supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?fi…
In July 2014, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, 21-year-old college student James King was walking to his internship. Suddenly, two men approached him. They shoved him aside and demanded that he tell them his name. When James responded, they snatched his wallet. (1/13)
James thought he was being mugged, so he fled. The men caught up with him. They tackled James and began to pound him in the head. (2/13)
James screamed for someone to call the police. Little did he know, that *was* the police. (3/13)
I've seen plenty of no-brainer cert petitions in my day, but this one—from a CA10 decision granting QI to cops who were specifically trained that there's a constitutional right to record police in public that they mustn't interfere with—takes the cake. Why?supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?fi…
1. It involves one of the most important constitutional rights SCOTUS has yet to weigh in on: the ability to record police in public to prevent govt from creating false narratives about things like murdering citizens, like MPD tried to do with George Floyd.businessinsider.com/police-initial…
2. No one seriously thinks modern QI has a shred of legitimacy, and virtually everyone agrees it was invented out of whole cloth in a blatant act of judicial policymaking that's supposed to offend a certain kind of jurist (hint: rhymes w "shmoriginalist").
chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/cgi/viewconten…
chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/cgi/viewconten…
In 2017, a Euclid, Ohio, resident called the police to report a “suspicious vehicle” outside her home. When 2 cops showed up, they found 23-year-old Luke Stewart, fast asleep. (1/12)
Luke had hoped to spend the night at a friend’s house. But when the friend wasn’t answering their phone, Luke parked nearby and dozed off. He wasn’t causing trouble. And he was unarmed. (2/12)
The 2 men startled Luke when they attempted to force him out of the car. Thoughtlessly, neither cop announced himself as a police officer. Still half asleep, not knowing what was going on, Luke panicked. (3/12)
“State officials will continue to violate people’s rights with impunity”
Ron Keine was convicted and sentenced to death for kidnapping and murder in 1974
He was exonerated in 1976, 9 days before his execution
#EndQualifiedImmunity 🧵
Ron Keine was convicted and sentenced to death for kidnapping and murder in 1974
He was exonerated in 1976, 9 days before his execution
#EndQualifiedImmunity 🧵
Misconduct in Ron Keine’s case was “so egregious” the prosecutor lost his license and several officers were fired - @innocence
Yet Ron’s lawsuit was dismissed — because of qualified immunity
And Ron’s case isn’t rare
Qualified immunity enables police brutality and corruption
Yet Ron’s lawsuit was dismissed — because of qualified immunity
And Ron’s case isn’t rare
Qualified immunity enables police brutality and corruption
Qualified immunity is a judicial doctrine from the 1960s that allows public officials, like cops, to act with impunity — even when they break the law
And as we know, the very people empowered to uphold the law break it every day — and laugh about it
nytimes.com/2021/04/27/us/…
And as we know, the very people empowered to uphold the law break it every day — and laugh about it
nytimes.com/2021/04/27/us/…
Derek Chauvin was involved in 5 police killings before suffocating George Floyd to death
But Chauvin's far from the only cop to get away with murder.
In fact, those who *are* fired just get hired somewhere else.
It's endemic.
Why #DefundThePolice then #AbolishThePolice?
🧵
But Chauvin's far from the only cop to get away with murder.
In fact, those who *are* fired just get hired somewhere else.
It's endemic.
Why #DefundThePolice then #AbolishThePolice?
🧵
Even those who still believe the fallacy that police and prisons make us safer understand that police accountability is critical — and "wandering cops" are a major concern
A 2020 Yale Law study found 1,100 terminated cops re-hired and walking the streets in Florida alone
A 2020 Yale Law study found 1,100 terminated cops re-hired and walking the streets in Florida alone
The national decertification database isn't public, isn't checked by most depts before hiring, and doesn't include some of the biggest states, including California and New Jersey
This sorry excuse for transparency has led to numerous deaths
St. Ann, Missouri, is a prime example
This sorry excuse for transparency has led to numerous deaths
St. Ann, Missouri, is a prime example
The militarization of our police has been accelerated thanks to qualified immunity and war on drugs, and the city of Washington DC is no exception.
DC Police have decided that their "training and expertise" is "paramount" to the rights we all have. Instead of finding probable cause, they just say they will find something.
In a review of 2,000 warrants, 14% were issued without finding probable cause, only invoking their training and experience. About 99% of these "warrants" involved Black suspects.
Thread: What happens when you subject qualified immunity to rigorous empirical scrutiny?
You discover it’s even worse than you thought. MUCH worse.
Click through for excerpts. /1
@CatoInstitute @campaigntoendqi #AbolishQI #EndQualifiedImmunity
lawfareblog.com/unpacking-deca…
You discover it’s even worse than you thought. MUCH worse.
Click through for excerpts. /1
@CatoInstitute @campaigntoendqi #AbolishQI #EndQualifiedImmunity
lawfareblog.com/unpacking-deca…
“Eliminate”
“Ideological priors”
#RyanWhitaker was shot and killed by the police in Phoenix, Arizona on May 21st of this year.
A neighbor called the police about a noise complaint, stating, "It could be physical. I could say yeah if that makes anybody hurry it up. Get anybody here faster."
A neighbor called the police about a noise complaint, stating, "It could be physical. I could say yeah if that makes anybody hurry it up. Get anybody here faster."
What could have been a much simpler police call, ended in needless and horrific tragedy.
Ryan and his girlfriend were “making salsa and playing Crash Bandicoot”, according to Ryan’s girlfriend, and confirmed by the bodycam footage of the officers.
Ryan and his girlfriend were “making salsa and playing Crash Bandicoot”, according to Ryan’s girlfriend, and confirmed by the bodycam footage of the officers.
The cops knocked on Ryan’s door with a quick shout, (likely inaudible from inside). The officers stood on each side of the door, concealing themselves from view. Late at night, Ryan opened the door with a firearm in hand, held toward the ground, presumably fearing for his safety.
Qualified Immunity—Is It Really That Bad? YES.
A Thread for all the people thinking that qualified immunity can’t REALLY let cops get away with just about anything.
A Thread for all the people thinking that qualified immunity can’t REALLY let cops get away with just about anything.
Let’s look at the West V. City of Caldwell Case
Short version of events: officers surround a home after a 911 call that a violent suspect was inside and holding the plaintiff (P) hostage. When officers arrive, P is actually walking down the street and says suspect isn’t there.
Short version of events: officers surround a home after a 911 call that a violent suspect was inside and holding the plaintiff (P) hostage. When officers arrive, P is actually walking down the street and says suspect isn’t there.
Officer (O) tells P she will “get in trouble” if she is harboring the suspect. She says he might be in there. O asks permission to enter and apprehend the suspect. P nods, gives him a key, and leaves. O calls in a SWAT teams and uses shotguns to shoot teargas into the house.
Police literally aren’t here to protect you.
Like, it is literally not their job to protect you.
Seriously. It’s so much not their job that their have been cases all the way to the Supreme Court affirm how much it is not their job to protect you.
Like, it is literally not their job to protect you.
Seriously. It’s so much not their job that their have been cases all the way to the Supreme Court affirm how much it is not their job to protect you.
1981: Warren v. District of Columbia - Court of Appeals
Police fail to investigate two 911 calls about a violent break in. The men who broke in beat and raped three women for 14 hours. Court says the police and operators are in no way at fault.
Police fail to investigate two 911 calls about a violent break in. The men who broke in beat and raped three women for 14 hours. Court says the police and operators are in no way at fault.
2005: Town of Castle Rock v. Gonzalez - Supreme Court
Mother has restraining order against her ex who subsequently has restricted access to kids. Ex abducts the children & mother calls the police 4x and visits the precinct. Officers refuse to investigate.
Mother has restraining order against her ex who subsequently has restricted access to kids. Ex abducts the children & mother calls the police 4x and visits the precinct. Officers refuse to investigate.
It's high time to #EndQualifiedImmunity. But what impact would ending qi have? Some say qi is responsible for the horrors of the past weeks, some say other barriers to accountability mean little would change. I say both are somewhat right. This thread explains why. 1/6
Ending qi would mean an end to court opinions that send the message that officers can violate peoples' rights without consequence. Ending qi would also reduce the costs, risks, and complexity of civil rights litigation, so might encourage more attorneys to bring these cases. 2/6
But qi isn't the silver bullet some hope. Without qualified immunity, government indemnification, budgeting, and risk-management practices, and the many other drivers of government behavior would continue to minimize lawsuits’ deterrent effects. 3/6
