Starvin Larry

“No one should get used to their rights. Predicting with certainty which ones, if any, will go, or when, is impossible.”—Mary R. Ziegler, legal historian

The Supreme Court has spoken: there will be no consequences for cops who brutalize the citizenry and no justice for the victims of police brutality.

Although the Court’s 2021-22rulings on qualified immunityfor police who engage in official misconduct werelargely overshadowed by its politically polarizing rulingson abortion, gun ownership and religion, they were no less devastating.

The doctrine of qualified immunity wasintended to insulate government officials from frivolous lawsuits, but the real purpose of qualified immunity is to ensure that government officials are not held accountable for official misconduct.

InEgbert v. Boule, the Court gavetotal immunity to Border Patrol agents who beat up a bed-and-breakfast owner, in the process carving out a massive exception…