The Supreme Court dealt a blow to police reform in two unanimous decisions on Monday shielding officers from lawsuits accusing them of illegal brutality. Both rulings endorse a nearly insurmountable version of qualified immunity, the doctrine that protects police and other state officials from suit, raising the bar even higher for victims of unconstitutional conduct. The rulings are a major setback for the campaign to rein in qualified immunity and a clear signal that a majority of the court remains eager to protect violent officers from accountability…
No justice dissented from Monday’s rulings—not even Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who is often a lonely voice against police brutality. The odds that the Supreme Court will reform its own qualified immunity jurisprudence are extremely low. Read more…