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Posted: 1/25/2023 6:47:34 PM EDT
https://www.techdirt.com/2023/01/23/nevadas-top-court-says-cops-can-now-be-sued-for-rights-violations-wont-have-access-to-qualified-immunity/
From what I can tell this is just due to a quirk in Nevada state law, but hey take the wins you can take: Cops in Nevada had better start behaving. The state’s Supreme Court has handed down a ruling that not only guarantees residents the right to sue under state law, but won’t allow officers to easily escape lawsuits by asking for qualified immunity. Here’s the background of the case, as summarized by Nick Sibilla at Forbes: What became a pivotal ruling for civil rights started because Sonja Mack just wanted to see her boyfriend. Back in 2017, Mack traveled to High Desert State Prison to visit her partner, who was then behind bars. While waiting, Mack said she was approached by two correctional officers, who then conducted a “demeaning and humiliating” strip search of Mack. Even though officers didn’t find any drugs or contraband, the prison still banned Mack from seeing her boyfriend and revoked her visitation privileges. Mack sued, arguing that being strip searched violated her rights under the Nevada Constitution. The problem facing Mack is that the Nevada legislature had never passed a law that expressly granted residents a right to sue government employees at the state level for constitutional violations. And no court had apparently been asked in a persuasive way to do what the state legislature had failed to do. The defendant, the Nevada Department of Corrections, argued the lack of legislation meant only the state could punish corrections officers for civil rights violations. Fortunately, the state Supreme Court disagrees. [W]e reject the NDOC parties’ assertion that state tort law provides meaningful redress for invasions of the constitutional right at issue here. Although other courts have determined tort remedies suffice to compensate for personal invasions of certain constitutional rights, […] we disagree that any commonalities between state tort-law claims and constitutional protections… provide meaningful recourse for violations of the constitutional right against unreasonable searches and seizures by government agents, as state tort law ultimately protects and serves different interests than such constitutional guarantees. View Quote More detail at the link, or watch this 12-minute video by attorney Steve Lehto: Qualified Immunity Struck Down by State Supreme Crt |
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Good win and video!
It's about time that cases like this got addressed by the court and the petty tyrants get held accountable. Thanks for posting! |
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Think Colorado did away with QI as well , or at least severely limited it.
They can (or could) strip search corrections visitors in NV ? Holy shit , we couldn't even pat um down here in Nebraska |
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In other threads, whenever removing QI was mentioned, lots of cops told us it would make their job impossible at best and lead to resignations / recruiting problems.
I guess we will find out now. |
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Hopefully this is a dance sensation that sweeps the whole nation.
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Quoted: In other threads, whenever removing QI was mentioned, lots of cops told us it would make their job impossible at best and lead to resignations / recruiting problems. I guess we will find out now. View Quote Attached File |
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Quoted: In other threads, whenever removing QI was mentioned, lots of cops told us it would make their job impossible at best and lead to resignations / recruiting problems. I guess we will find out now. View Quote That means more money for those that can do the job without being a shitbag. Win for the good guys. |
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That will get changed the moment the first illegal is put on the force.
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There is no state law on qualified immunity. It is a fed term and some states have similar protections. So, this really isn't news.
States are smart though.... they often have laws limiting liability. So, there is more money in fed court than state court, which is why the cases go there more often. |
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Great start. Next step is to make them take multiple sets of board exams, multiple licensing exams, go through 7-10 years of specialty training, get a federal license allowing them to prescribe justice, and carry liability insurance (with tail coverage if they ever leave a department).
Oh wait...that would never fly. No one ever wants to have skin in the game. |
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Quoted: That means more money for those that can do the job without being a shitbag. Win for the good guys. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: In other threads, whenever removing QI was mentioned, lots of cops told us it would make their job impossible at best and lead to resignations / recruiting problems. I guess we will find out now. That means more money for those that can do the job without being a shitbag. Win for the good guys. Nope. The overwhelming number of lawsuits come from shitbag criminals with nothing better to do. Most of those frivolous suits are dismissed based on QI (legit suits don't). Without QI, officers would have to pay lawyers to fight even the frivolous suits arising from legitimate arrests and uses of force. There simply wouldn't BE enough money in the paycheck to cover legal expenses and still afford to support a family. Additionally, countersuits are worthless because the criminals have nothing to take. |
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Quoted: Just be willing to accept cops refusing to make arrests in order to protect themselves from civil suits. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: Good win and video! It's about time that cases like this got addressed by the court and the petty tyrants get held accountable. Thanks for posting! Just be willing to accept cops refusing to make arrests in order to protect themselves from civil suits. |
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Quoted: Great start. Next step is to make them take multiple sets of board exams, multiple licensing exams, go through 7-10 years of specialty training, get a federal license allowing them to prescribe justice, and carry liability insurance (with tail coverage if they ever leave a department). Oh wait...that would never fly. No one ever wants to have skin in the game. View Quote You'd have to be willing to PAY enough, and your taxes would go through the roof. Imagine having to pay each officer as much as the average surgeon. BTW, the same argument can be made for EVERY profession and job.... |
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I would expect legislation will be filed that will define when liability exists.
A government employee shouldn't be sued personally if he/she is acting in accordance with the law and policy. |
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I don't think removing QI completely is the answer, but blanket QI is definitely not the answer. There needs to be a happy median that ferrets out bad cops, but allows the good ones to do their jobs.
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Quoted: I think the plaintiff would have settled for just not being molested by some mouth breathing prison guards. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: Just be willing to accept cops refusing to make arrests in order to protect themselves from civil suits. I think the plaintiff would have settled for just not being molested by some mouth breathing prison guards. Well, I'll wait to hear the other side of the story, as I'm quite aware of the amount of smuggling that goes on in correctional facilities. There's also that big sign at the front door stating that by entering you are consenting to search at the discretion of the staff. Again, people like to try and sneak stuff in to the prisoners. |
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Quoted: So they won't arrest Joe Citizen when he smokes a criminal and gives a few anchor shots as a warning to any would be future criminals? View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Good win and video! It's about time that cases like this got addressed by the court and the petty tyrants get held accountable. Thanks for posting! Just be willing to accept cops refusing to make arrests in order to protect themselves from civil suits. Well, expect Jack Thug's family to come over and smoke ol' Joe Citizen (and probably his family as well) for revenge. |
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Now do something about politicians. Yes, I know it's technically covered by TITLE 18, U.S.C., SECTION 242 - but not really since it's ignored like "shall not be infringed."
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Quoted: Nope. The overwhelming number of lawsuits come from shitbag criminals with nothing better to do. Most of those frivolous suits are dismissed based on QI (legit suits don't). Without QI, officers would have to pay lawyers to fight even the frivolous suits arising from legitimate arrests and uses of force. There simply wouldn't BE enough money in the paycheck to cover legal expenses and still afford to support a family. Additionally, countersuits are worthless because the criminals have nothing to take. View Quote Except none of that applies to this case, that hopefully puts an end to the abuse of authority that has gone on for too long. QI has it's place but it has been abused by those in government. Breaking a few eggs to make an omelet mentality doesn't work when it comes to civil rights. Either we have rights or we don't. |
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Quoted: I don't think removing QI completely is the answer, but blanket QI is definitely not the answer. There needs to be a happy median that ferrets out bad cops, but allows the good ones to do their jobs. View Quote Qualified immunity isn't "blanket" like what people here seem to think it is. It's limited to scope of employment. Violation of policies without a clear and reasonable extenuating circumstance takes QI off the table. |
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I'm so glad I'm getting out. Not worth the bullshit. Sucks because I actually did enjoy it but after seeing a few guys get burned hard for doing nothing wrong... fuck that.
That said, QI going away doesn't mean what most people think it means. |
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Quoted: So they won't arrest Joe Citizen when he smokes a criminal and gives a few anchor shots as a warning to any would be future criminals? View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Good win and video! It's about time that cases like this got addressed by the court and the petty tyrants get held accountable. Thanks for posting! Just be willing to accept cops refusing to make arrests in order to protect themselves from civil suits. He's also going to go out of his way to avoid that trap house next door to you that you keep complaining about instead of running traffic on every car he can that leaves the house, with his K9 partner, until they're forced out of town. |
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Quoted: What if the law is knowingly unconstitutional? View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: I would expect legislation will be filed that will define when liability exists. A government employee shouldn't be sued personally if he/she is acting in accordance with the law and policy. Has it been ruled as unconstitutional? Is there some legal precedent? Or is it just your opinion that it's unconstitutional? Oh, and why are you blaming the cops instead of the politicians YOU elected? |
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Quoted: Except none of that applies to this case, that hopefully puts an end to the abuse of authority that has gone on for too long. QI has it's place but it has been abused by those in government. Breaking a few eggs to make an omelet mentality doesn't work when it comes to civil rights. Either we have rights or we don't. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: Nope. The overwhelming number of lawsuits come from shitbag criminals with nothing better to do. Most of those frivolous suits are dismissed based on QI (legit suits don't). Without QI, officers would have to pay lawyers to fight even the frivolous suits arising from legitimate arrests and uses of force. There simply wouldn't BE enough money in the paycheck to cover legal expenses and still afford to support a family. Additionally, countersuits are worthless because the criminals have nothing to take. Except none of that applies to this case, that hopefully puts an end to the abuse of authority that has gone on for too long. QI has it's place but it has been abused by those in government. Breaking a few eggs to make an omelet mentality doesn't work when it comes to civil rights. Either we have rights or we don't. If they violated policy or law, then there is no QI. If they acted within the scope of their employment, then the lawsuit properly should be against the state/ agency in question rather than the officers. |
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Quoted: Has it been ruled as unconstitutional? Is there some legal precedent? Or is it just your opinion that it's unconstitutional? Oh, and why are you blaming the cops instead of the politicians YOU elected? View Quote If you watch the video it explains how/why this case was decided by the court. QI was being blatantly abused. |
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Quoted: Even if it's loading peaceful people on a train? View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: I would expect legislation will be filed that will define when liability exists. A government employee shouldn't be sued personally if he/she is acting in accordance with the law and policy. Even if it's loading peaceful people on a train? Like Antifa peaceful? |
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Quoted: Has it been ruled as unconstitutional? Is there some legal precedent? Or is it just your opinion that it's unconstitutional? Oh, and why are you blaming the cops instead of the politicians YOU elected? View Quote Answers to your questions. Degrees in rocket surgery and law aren't required to interpret the Constitution. Get both. |
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Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: I would expect legislation will be filed that will define when liability exists. A government employee shouldn't be sued personally if he/she is acting in accordance with the law and policy. Even if it's loading peaceful people on a train? Like Antifa peaceful? Glib on you. You know the context of the question. Let me know if I gave you the benefit of the doubt and you aren't too smart. Then I'll help you with the answer. |
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Not sure getting to sue the individual with limited funds will wind up to be a good thing if it winds up relieving the big pockets they worked for of liability for their actions. Not sure you can be an individual and an arm of a government at the same time.
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Quoted: Good win and video! It's about time that cases like this got addressed by the court and the petty tyrants get held accountable. Thanks for posting! View Quote You don’t understand what qualified immunity is. It doesn’t say that cops are unable to get sued. In basic terms, it says that they can’t be personally sued when they were proven to have acted within law and policy. Basically, the cop didn’t do anything wrong. There’s a process to determine that. So, you can’t sue a cop because he stressed you out by giving you a ticket. You can’t sue a cop personally that shot a family member within the law and policy. You CAN sue a cop personally if they acted outside of the law and/or sometimes policy. You can usually sue the department for stupid stuff, but not the officer personally. |
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Quoted: Well, I'll wait to hear the other side of the story, as I'm quite aware of the amount of smuggling that goes on in correctional facilities. There's also that big sign at the front door stating that by entering you are consenting to search at the discretion of the staff. Again, people like to try and sneak stuff in to the prisoners. View Quote Maybe the staff should strip search themselves if that's what they're worried about. |
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Quoted: If you watch the video it explains how/why this case was decided by the court. QI was being blatantly abused. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: Has it been ruled as unconstitutional? Is there some legal precedent? Or is it just your opinion that it's unconstitutional? Oh, and why are you blaming the cops instead of the politicians YOU elected? If you watch the video it explains how/why this case was decided by the court. QI was being blatantly abused. Not really. He even states that a number of issues weren't even addressed in the case, such as WHY the search occurred. And here's a little something: Anderson v. Creighton, 483 U.S. 635, 107 S. Ct. 3034, 97 L. Ed. 2d 523 (1987) |
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Quoted: Quoted: I would expect legislation will be filed that will define when liability exists. A government employee shouldn't be sued personally if he/she is acting in accordance with the law and policy. That's what QI is. Im talking about the state level. |
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Quoted: Not really. He even states that a number of issues weren't even addressed in the case, such as WHY the search occurred. And here's a little something: Anderson v. Creighton, 483 U.S. 635, 107 S. Ct. 3034, 97 L. Ed. 2d 523 (1987) View Quote Why the search occurred AND the most important part. It is consensual. Just like walking through the TSA screening process. You can choose not to go. Contact visits are the same way. You can either agree to the search or not come in. |
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