Should It Be This Hard to Sue the Police and Win?

Matter of Opinion

New York Times Opinion

Society & Culture, Ross Douthat, News, New York Times, Journalism

4.2 • 7.2K Ratings

🗓️ 16 June 2021

⏱️ 32 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

One of the strongest calls for police reform is to end a legal doctrine called qualified immunity. Advocates for change argue it would be one of the most immediate ways to hold officers more accountable for their actions. But critics say it would leave police vulnerable when they’re faced with life-threatening situations. Qualified immunity protects government officials from some lawsuits if they violate a person’s constitutional rights in the course of their duties. If you’ve heard of police officers getting away with unconstitutional behavior and wondered how, it might have been because they had qualified immunity. This week, Jane Coaston talks to two lawyers who strongly disagree about whether qualified immunity needs to go. Lenny Kesten is a leading defender of police officers with Brody Hardoon Perkins & Kesten, and Easha Anand is the Supreme Court and appellate counsel for the MacArthur Justice Center.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Today on the argument, why is it so hard to sue a police officer and win?
0:09.0	I'm Jane Kostin, and if you follow me on Twitter, you know that I have very strong feelings
0:13.7	about qualified immunity.
0:16.0	Qualified immunity is what protected four cops from a lawsuit after they assaulted a man
0:20.2	they pulled over for a broken taillight.
0:22.6	It protected officers who allegedly stole more than $200,000 while executing a search warrant.
0:28.1	When I protected the officers who pinned a man face down for nearly 14 minutes, he later
0:32.3	died.
0:33.3	It's a legal doctrine, and it comes from the fact that under federal law, you allowed
0:37.0	to sue government officials who violate your constitutional rights, including police officers.
0:42.2	Which seems good, but it's actually a lot harder to do than it sounds.
0:47.0	Because to sue and win, you have to show that there was a previous example of a cop doing
0:51.2	essentially the exact same bad thing.
0:56.0	I think that kind of legal shield is outrageous, especially when we're talking about police
1:00.2	reform.
1:01.2	We can talk about changing police training all we want, but courts are supposed to be the
1:05.0	last backstop that ensures bad actors get punished.
1:08.3	And with qualified immunity in place, many don't.
1:12.2	Those high stakes are the reason qualified immunity is one of the biggest sticking points
1:15.6	in the congressional battle over police reform legislation.
1:18.8	And my guess today strongly disagree on the subject.
1:22.6	Many Keston is the leading defender of police officers with Brody, Hardoon, Perkins, and
	...

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