Why JUDGES should support the elimination of qualified immunity: Because when YOU create a Frankenstein’s monster of injustice that undermines people’s confidence in govt and infantilizes cops, you should fix the mess you made.
How does QI “infantilize” cops? By consistently letting them off the hook on the premise that they could not reasonably have known not to do things that would put an ordinary citizen in the poorhouse--or prison. Think I’m exaggerating? Read on:
Here’s what cops did in the seven QI cases that SCOTUS just sent to conference for 5/15 where federal appellate courts gave the cops a free pass on the premise that they didn’t have sufficient notice not to do these things:
1. Steal $225,000 in cash and gold coins from a homeowner while executing a search warrant (Jessop).
supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/19/1…
supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/19/1…
2. Try to kill a non-threatening family pet by cooking off shots across a yard full of proned-out kids, striking at 10-year-old boy in the back of the leg (Corbitt).
supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/19/1…
supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/19/1…
3. Body slam an unarmed, unresisting 5’ tall woman wearing only a bathing suit, knocking her unconscious and breaking her shoulder--simply because she ignored a command to “Get back here!” (Kelsay)
supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/19/1…
supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/19/1…
4. Sic a police dog on a suspect who has been sitting in a position of surrender with his hands up for 5-10 seconds, nearly killing him (Baxter).
supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/18/1…
supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/18/1…
5. Interpret consent to search a woman’s residence for a fugitive as permission to perform a full-blown SWAT raid that virtually destroys her apartment and nearly kills her dog (West).
supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/19/1…
supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/19/1…
6. Conduct a warrantless search of a doctor’s files, seizing documents containing highly sensitive, confidential patient information with no judicial authorization or supervision (Zadeh).
supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/19/1…
supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/19/1…
7. Act like a stalker while trying to administer an alcohol breath test to a man on misdemeanor probation, including wrapping his security camera in police tape (Brennan).
supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/18/1…
supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/18/1…
Letting cops off the hook for such breathtaking violations of people's rights is unjust to the victims, but guess what? It's unfair to cops as well--the ones who are out there getting it right day after day and neither request nor require a free pass from the judiciary. /end
