mtswFeb 21, 2023
If conservative radicals who've stolen our courts were actually "originalists" they would take a very dim view of the government arresting people for no reason. "You cannot arrest someone without a good reason" is like the literal oldest thing in Common Law. But instead the doctrine is the nonsensical Qualified Immunity of "cops can do whatever they want to with no consequences." https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/supreme-court-rejects-ohio-mans-bid-sue-police-arrest-facebook-parody-rcna70435
Supreme Court rejects Ohio man’s bid to sue police over arrest for Facebook parody

Supreme Court declines to hear a qualified immunity case involving a claim that Parma, Ohio, police violated a man's rights by arresting him for Facebook posts.

NBC News
Show threadClinical RawlsianFeb 21, 2023

@mtsw As a little thought experiment, I sometimes like to wonder what it would be like if we took the reasoning behind qualified immunity for police and applied it to other fields.

Like, what if it was impossible to sue a doctor unless a doctor had previously been successfully sued for the exact same mistake.

Of course, this would never happen because, just like the poor and powerless, the rich and powerful also get sick and want to preserve some form of redress for medical malpractice.

Show threadM.S. Bellows, Jr.
@MadMadMadMadRN @mtsw TBF, "Qualified immunity only applies to suits against government officials as individuals, not suits against the government for damages caused by the officials’ actions."
https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/qualified_immunity
qualified immunity

LII / Legal Information Institute
Feb 21, 2023 at 4:06pmWeb
Show threadClinical RawlsianFeb 21, 2023

@msbellows @mtsw Where does the money come from to pay settlements and awards for damages caused by officials' actions?

Given that police unions have in many places made it impossible for problematic officers to be disciplined or terminated and that there is effectively no civilian control of police in much of the country, this seems like a distinction without a difference.

Show threadM.S. Bellows, Jr.Feb 21, 2023
@MadMadMadMadRN @mtsw It means that the cities/PDs themselves may still be liable, so the victims and their families may still receive compensation. Strictly speaking, QA only protects individual officers.