"qualified immunity isn’t just invoked in excessive force cases and not just against police"

WBUR has a real good article on the details of qualified immunity and how it has worked here in MA. I learned a few things in this article. One: that the law currently isn't a specific law in the 'books'; it is the result of judicial doctrine developed over time by individual court cases.

"When officers use excessive force and someone sues, police are not always held accountable in a civil lawsuit. That can be, in part, because of a controversial defense known as qualified immunity. 

Lawmakers at the State House this week are weighing a massive compromise police reform bill that could change that legal avenue, making it slightly easier for people to successfully sue police officers and other public officials who violate people’s constitutional and civil rights. 

Qualified immunity isn’t a law on the books passed by elected officials. It’s a judicial doctrine developed over decades, through court decision after court decision. 

Essentially, qualified immunity says a government official can only be held liable for unconstitutional actions if it’s “clearly established” in existing case law that the conduct was unlawful. Plaintiffs need to point to another, similar case already decided by a court that the action in question was illegal in order for the lawsuit to go forward."

Continue reading the article online
https://www.wbur.org/news/2020/08/03/qualified-immunity-police-massachusetts-overview

WBUR has a real good article on the details of qualified immunity