Kara Bendixen

Election Laws Resources for Law Enforcement

Introduction As law enforcement officers, understanding election laws is crucial to ensure the integrity and security of the voting process. This resource page provides essential information on election laws, political violence, unlawful paramilitaries, and polling place regulations. Free Podcast: Election Law & Law Enforcement In this episode, Attorney Eric Daigle tackles the hot topic of election law as we approach the November 2024 elections.​ […]

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Civil Use of Force – O’Brien v Town of Bellingham

For today’s article, we will look at a Civil case out of Massachusetts where the trial court and ultimately, the 1st Circuit, looked at the facts and circumstances involved in O’Brien’s arrest and subsequent booking and determined that the officers were entitled to Summary Judgment and dismissed the case.  Prior to filing this civil claim O’Brien pled guilty to a number of criminal charges including assault

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Qualified Immunity – What Every Officer Needs To Know: Part One

History of How Qualified Immunity Came to Be As I watch what is occurring across the Country I am confused. I have practiced law for nineteen years. And I’ve been in awe over the past couple of months as I have watched legislatures and individuals across the country have conversations about qualified immunity. Like most of my practitioners, we probably didn’t think too much

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Investigative Detention: Donahue v. Wihongi

A case out of the 10th Circuit back in January 2020 started as a typical neighborly dispute. This case has a number of twists and turns involving Reasonable Suspicion vs Probable Cause, handcuffing during an Investigative Detention, and the process for releasing a suspect if a determination is made to release the handcuffed suspect without further detention. Before we begin, a couple of things should

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The Balancing Test: Terry Stop & Misdemeanor Arrests

Today’s case, United States v. Jones, comes from the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals and looks at the question of whether a police officer can conduct a Terry Stop or Investigative Detention based on a crime that has already been committed.  Over 30 years ago SCOTUS answered this question with respect to committed felonies. In United States v Hensley, 469 US 321 (1985), officers stopped a suspect

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HB 6004: What Connecticut Officers Need to Know… (Video Training)

Access Video as a Course Due to the important nature of this training we are making this training video free to access. This training video is also available as a course for credit and certificate via the DLG Learning Center. You must login and access the training through your DLG Learning Center account to receive your certificate. Please email help@dlglearningcenter.com for more information. You

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They Said WHAT!? A Primer on Public Employee Freedom of Speech

The “freedom of speech” is clearly set forth in the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.[1] The freedom of speech is the right to articulate one’s opinions and ideas without fear of government retaliation or censorship, or societal sanction. The freedom of expression is oftentimes used synonymously with the freedom of speech which can cause an issue for public-sector employers and employees, since

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The Ever-Complicated Chokehold & Qualified Immunity: Tuuamalemalo v. Greene

Chokeholds and policing are certainly a hot topic in today’s society. Today we will be reviewing a use of force case out of the 9th Circuit that touches on chokeholds and another highly debated topic, qualified immunity. Certainly, police officers don’t often fare well with these types of cases in the 9th Circuit and today’s case is no exception. The specific topic of today’s

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Webinar: Qualified Immunity – What the Public Needs to Know

Qualified immunity is a type of legal immunity. “Qualified immunity balances two important interests—the need to hold public officials accountable when they exercise power irresponsibly and the need to shield officials from harassment, distraction, and liability when they perform their duties reasonably.” In Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800 (1982), the Supreme Court held that federal government officials are entitled to qualified immunity. The

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Author: Attorney Eric Daigle

Attorney Daigle focuses on evaluating and providing policy and training on areas of increased liability for departments across the country. Attorney Daigle’s keynote focuses on understanding current trends in legal standards, operational standards, and community concern. More importantly, the intersection between these topics to provide departments evaluation and recommendations to move forward.
This publication is produced to provide general information on the topic presented. It is distributed with the understanding that the publisher (Daigle Law Group, LLC) is not engaged in rendering legal or professional services. Although this publication is prepared by professionals, it should not be used as a substitute for professional services. If legal or other professional advice is required, the services of a professional should be sought.

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