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Qualified immunity only protects individuals (that is, people who are acting as official roles). It has no bearing on suing organizations or departments, such

by Gunax 4y ago

Qualified immunity only protects individuals (that is, people who are acting as official roles). It has no bearing on suing organizations or departments, such as this lawsuit, AFAIK

iudqnolq 4y ago
Not quite. From the appeals court opinion that the Supreme Court left standing. > What’s more, the officers had good reason to believe they had probable cause. Both the City’s Law Director and the judges who issued the warrants agreed with them. Reassurance from no fewer than three other officials further supports finding that the officers “reasonably,” even if “mistakenly,” concluded that probable cause existed. Wesby, 138 S. Ct. at 591 (cleaned up). That’s enough to shield Riley and Connor [the cops who arrested him] from liability. The reason qualified immunity is such a huge problem is that it's even harder to sue departments. There's a bunch of weird rulings that have the result that in America people who's rights are violated tend to need to sue individuals, who are then defended by the government. (If a cop loses a lawsuit the only consequence tends to be that the city's police misconduct insurance premium goes up) In this case he also tried to sue the municipality, but that lost too > Finally, Novak contends that Parma had an establ ished custom and pattern of “indifference to protected speech in criminal investigations.” Appellant’s Br. 57. And he runs through a list of cases where Parma had to reverse course over protected does not explain how this list of cspeech claims. But he ases could form a “clear and persistent pattern” so strong that it resembles official policy condoned by the City. 432 (6th Cir. 2005). Thomas v. City of Chattanooga , 398 F.3d 426, Perhaps unsurprising, since it’s a “heavy burden” to show municipal liabi lity based on custom. Id. at 433. Novak doesn’t even suggest (as he must) that this pattern resulted from a deliberate choice “from among various alternatives” that amounts to an unwritten “legal institution.” 507Doe v. Claiborne County ex rel. Claiborne C nty. Bd. of Educ. 08 (6th Cir. 1996) (cleaned up). Nor does he explain how that policy — , 103 F.3d 495, despite independent warrants from Magistrate Judge Fink and Judge O’Donnell See Thomas , 398 F.3d at 429 (quoting Doe — caused a constitutional violation. , 103 F.3d at 508). He simply argues that “Parma should have known better.” Appellant’s Br. 58. This is not enough to support a finding of municipal liability, so we affirm. https://www.opn.ca6.uscourts.gov/opinions.pdf/22a0090p-06.pdf https://www.opn.ca6.uscourts.gov/opinions.pdf/22a0090p-06.pd...

by Gunax 4y ago

Qualified immunity only protects individuals (that is, people who are acting as official roles). It has no bearing on suing organizations or departments, such as this lawsuit, AFAIK

iudqnolq 4y ago

Not quite. From the appeals court opinion that the Supreme Court left standing. > What’s more, the officers had good reason to believe they had probable cause. Both the City’s Law Director and the judges who issued the warrants agreed with them. Reassurance from no fewer than three other officials further supports finding that the officers “reasonably,” even if “mistakenly,” concluded that probable cause existed. Wesby, 138 S. Ct. at 591 (cleaned up). That’s enough to shield Riley and Connor [the cops who arrested him] from liability. The reason qualified immunity is such a huge problem is that it's even harder to sue departments. There's a bunch of weird rulings that have the result that in America people who's rights are violated tend to need to sue individuals, who are then defended by the government. (If a cop loses a lawsuit the only consequence tends to be that the city's police misconduct insurance premium goes up) In this case he also tried to sue the municipality, but that lost too > Finally, Novak contends that Parma had an establ ished custom and pattern of “indifference to protected speech in criminal investigations.” Appellant’s Br. 57. And he runs through a list of cases where Parma had to reverse course over protected does not explain how this list of cspeech claims. But he ases could form a “clear and persistent pattern” so strong that it resembles official policy condoned by the City. 432 (6th Cir. 2005). Thomas v. City of Chattanooga , 398 F.3d 426, Perhaps unsurprising, since it’s a “heavy burden” to show municipal liabi lity based on custom. Id. at 433. Novak doesn’t even suggest (as he must) that this pattern resulted from a deliberate choice “from among various alternatives” that amounts to an unwritten “legal institution.” 507Doe v. Claiborne County ex rel. Claiborne C nty. Bd. of Educ. 08 (6th Cir. 1996) (cleaned up). Nor does he explain how that policy — , 103 F.3d 495, despite independent warrants from Magistrate Judge Fink and Judge O’Donnell See Thomas , 398 F.3d at 429 (quoting Doe — caused a constitutional violation. , 103 F.3d at 508). He simply argues that “Parma should have known better.” Appellant’s Br. 58. This is not enough to support a finding of municipal liability, so we affirm. https://www.opn.ca6.uscourts.gov/opinions.pdf/22a0090p-06.pdf https://www.opn.ca6.uscourts.gov/opinions.pdf/22a0090p-06.pd...