Marshall Sutherland

Sat, 07 Aug 2021 12:19:02 -0400

dwatney@hub.farthinghalearms.com

A Cop's Lies Put Her in Jail for 2 years—Now She's Asking the Supreme Court for Justice
by Institute for Justice on YouTube

Hamdi Mohamud escaped war-torn Somalia when she was a child. As a teenager in Minnesota, she found herself caught in a web of well-documented lies and manipulation spun by St. Paul police officer Heather Weyker. In 2011, Weyker was deputized as part of a federal task force. At that time, the officer created outright lies to have Hamdi arrested and put in jail, even though Hamdi was innocent of any crime and Weyker had no reason to believe otherwise. Nonetheless, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Hamdi cannot sue Weyker for ruining so much of her life through her unconstitutional acts for one simple and outrageous reason: Weyker performed all her misdeeds while holding a federal badge.

IJ qualified immunity

Mon, 05 Jul 2021 15:06:10 -0400

Marshall Sutherland

dwatney@hub.farthinghalearms.com

#^Rise of the Warrior Cop

For our 400th episode, Radley Balko returns to the show to discuss how the distinction between cop and soldier has been blurred in the last 40 years.

Radley Balko argues that over the last several decades, Americaâ€™s cops have increasingly come to resemble ground troops. The consequences have been dire: the home is no longer a place of sanctuary, the Fourth Amendment has been gutted, and police today have been conditioned to see the citizens they serve as an otherâ€”an enemy.

podcast war on drugs qualified immunity

Thu, 25 Feb 2021 19:32:10 -0500

Marshall Sutherland

dwatney@hub.farthinghalearms.com

#^5th Circuit Grants Qualified Immunity to Cops Who Ignited a Suicidal, Gasoline-Drenched Man by Tasing Him

The appeals court concluded that the officers' use of force was reasonable in the circumstances.

I suppose, by this logic, if a man is holding a gun to his own head, it is "reasonable" to shoot him in the head to prevent him from shooting himself in the head.

qualified immunity

Fri, 19 Feb 2021 18:55:29 -0500

Marshall Sutherland

dwatney@hub.farthinghalearms.com

#^Vietnam Vet Beaten by Police in Unprovoked Assault at VA Hospital

JosÃ© Oliva survived the bloodiest year in Vietnam, but he most feared for his life when he was brutally beaten in an unprovoked attack by federal officers in a Veterans Affairs hospital in his hometown of El Paso. If the Fourth Amendment doesnâ€™t protect a 70-year-old veteran beaten by federal police inside a veteransâ€™ hospital for no reason, it doesnâ€™t protect anyone. Thatâ€™s why, on January 29, 2021, the Institute for Justice filed a petition to the U.S. Supreme Court asking it to reverse the clearly erroneous 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision, which ruled that federal officers, such as those in a VA hospital, may act with impunity and not be held accountable for their actions, no matter how unconstitutional.

JosÃ© is a native of El Paso, Texas and a Vietnam War vet, who served nearly three decades in law enforcement, and advocated on behalf of veterans in his hometown and nationwide.

In February 2016, federal police working as security at an El Paso VA hospital assaulted JosÃ© as he was entering the hospital for a dentist appointment. They then charged him for disorderly conductâ€”charges that were later dismissed.

When JosÃ© sued the officers, a predictable thing happened. The officers invoked qualified immunityâ€”a controversial doctrine that the Supreme Court invented in 1982 to protect government workers from being sued for unconstitutional conduct. To its great credit, the district court denied the officers qualified immunityâ€”a decision that the officers promptly appealed. The 5th Circuit agreed with the officers and reversed the district court, holding that even if qualified immunity were not available, JosÃ© still canâ€™t sue because he was assaulted by federal, and not state, officers.

This decision is wrong. Federal officials are not above the Constitution. The 5th Circuitâ€™s decision disregards Supreme Court precedent and departs from the consensus of other courts of appeals that have considered this same issue. As a result, Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi are now constitution-free zones, as far as federal police are concerned. IJ is not going to let that happen. Thatâ€™s why we teamed up with JosÃ© to ask the Supreme Court to reverse the 5th Circuitâ€™s decision and let the case proceed to trial. IJ, through its Project on Immunity and Accountability, seeks to ensure that the Constitution serves to limit the government in fact, not just in theory, and that promises enshrined in its Bill of Rights are not empty words but enforced guarantees.

IJ qualified immunity