Even as the Supreme Court has weakened the ability of people to bring civil rights claims under the 4th Amendment by creating & strengthening qualified immunity, the justices in certain cases during the War on Drugs era also weakened 4th Amendment protections in criminal cases
The Supreme Court made it easier for cops to stop and search people in a variety of contexts, with the underlying justification for the search often being suspicion of drug possession
In a 2016 dissent when the court expanded the ability to police to collect evidence when the stop was illegal, liberal Justice Sotomayor weighed in, noting: "it is no secret that people of color are disproportionate victims of this type of scrutiny."
Black Americans are routinely targeted by police in encounters that can escalate into violence. The final part of our @Reuters series on QUALIFIED IMMUNITY shows how it often cuts off one of the few avenues Black people have when seeking accountability: reut.rs/3hgxUOq
@Reuters Read about Luke Stewart, Clayton Dobbins & Shase Howse, three unarmed Black men who suffered violence at the hands of police. In all these cases, the cops were cleared of wrongdoing, faced no criminal charges and were granted qualified immunity in the resulting civil rights cases
@Reuters The irony is that the federal civil rights law that people use to sue the police was enacted after the Civil War to address violence against Black people
This White House announcement of clemency doesn't really tell the story of how these men were convicted of the massacre of Iraqi civilians while working as Blackwater contractors
Pardons in full: "two people convicted in the special counsel’s Russia inquiry, four Blackwater guards convicted in connection with the killing of Iraqi civilians and three corrupt former Republican members of Congress." nytimes.com/2020/12/22/us/…
Not surprisingly, a lot of misinformation is being spread about what the Supreme Court actually did. Bottom line: not a single justice said that the four states should be blocked from participating in the electoral college vote as Texas wanted
And, second: Trump and allies have had weeks to pursue their legal claims in state and federal courts and have lost at every stage. They have not just had their day in court, they’ve had weeks in court, and have failed to sustain any of the wild allegations they have made
After the election, other Republicans said Trump had a right to pursue his claims and see if anything sticks. Nothing has stuck. What do they say now?
BREAKING: Supreme Court rejects Texas-led effort to toss out election results in four key states that Biden won
The court in a brief order said Texas did not have standing to bring the claim
Two justices, Thomas and Alito, said as a technical matter they would have allowed the lawsuit to be filed but, as Alito noted, "would not grant other relief," which presumably refers to the request for an injunction that would block states from participating in Electoral College
Supreme Court justices have their last scheduled private meeting of the year this morning to discuss new cases to take up. Texas had asked that they discuss its election lawsuit and related motions. It’s possible the court acts today
The court could also announce cases it is taking up to hear early next year & whether there’s a chance of rulings next week
One of the cases the Supreme Court could act on today is also election-related: a bid by Kansas to revive a law that requires people to show proof of citizenship when registering to vote