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Qualified Immunity
May 22, 2024
Matt Ford
A Federal Judge Just Called Out the Supreme Court
Carlton Reeves did not pull any punches in criticizing qualified immunity—and demanding that the justices finally do something about it.
April 4, 2024
Matt Ford
The Supreme Court Could Puncture Prosecutorial Immunity
A worrisome case of misconduct is on the high court’s doorstep, creating the potential for a rollback of the power that district attorneys have long enjoyed.
August 23, 2023
Matt Ford
Qualified Immunity Faces an Existential Threat at the Supreme Court
A judicial doctrine that has denied justice to an untold number of plaintiffs may be founded on a centuries-old scrivener’s error.
February 13, 2023
Lisa Riordan Seville
A Cop Sexually Assaulted Their Son. Then Child Protective Services Retaliated.
How a family in Missouri almost lost their kid, and couldn’t fight back thanks to qualified immunity laws.
February 3, 2023
Anthony Conwright
Videos of Police Brutality Against Black People Are a Futile Spectacle
The ritual of repeated “reckonings” hasn’t changed abuses by cops.
February 1, 2023
Grace Segers
The Urgency of Police Reform Is at the Mercy of a Divided Congress
A Republican House and Democratic Senate could complicate negotiations, but some still hope for a revival of talks two years after the last failed effort.
July 4, 2022
Matt Ford
Impunity Had a Great Year at the Supreme Court
The justices consistently ruled against plaintiffs who had their constitutional rights violated—and, in some cases, their bodies abused—by police, the Border Patrol, and the CIA.
June 8, 2022
Matt Ford
The Supreme Court Keeps Chipping Away at Your Constitutional Rights
What recourse do ordinary citizens have when federal agents violate their rights? After Wednesday, not much.
June 1, 2022
Matt Ford
The Police Have No Reason to Help You
Cops have been given an incredible set of legal powers immunizing them from the fatal errors of their own decisions—including their decision to do nothing in Uvalde, Texas.
August 20, 2021
Matt Ford
You Have the Right to Keep Filming the Cops—for Now
The Supreme Court will take up a case that bundles concerns over qualified immunity with a consequential First Amendment dispute.
April 13, 2021
Matt Ford
Are States Really Abolishing Qualified Immunity for Cops? Not Exactly.
Recent reporting suggests that lawmakers across the country are ending a long-standing legal protection for police officers, but that isn’t quite true.
April 17, 2020
Matt Ford
To Protect and Serve, or Pilfer and Steal?
It's commonly held that letting the cops do crimes is a big no-no, but thanks to a zany lower court ruling the question is in the Supreme Court's hands.
September 12, 2018
Matt Ford
Should Cops Be Immune From Lawsuits?
A legal revolt is brewing against a Supreme Court doctrine that shields some public officials from civil litigation.
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