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Witness’s Change of Story Causes Qualified Immunity Decision to Change

The case of Gambrel v. Knox County, 25 F.4th 391 (6th Cir. 2022) brings to light the complex issue of qualified immunity and the use of deadly force by law enforcement. The Sixth Circuit overturned a decision on qualified immunity in this case, due to a tricky aspect of determining credibility of witness statements. In this case, a witness initially supported the officers’ portrayal […]

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Weighing Qualified Immunity Against Several Versions of the Same UOF Incident

In the Seventh Circuit case of Bayon v. Berkebile, qualified immunity was denied for officers who mistakenly believed that the plaintiff had a gun. The incident became complicated due to the numerous conflicting versions from both the plaintiff and the officers about the use of force. As a reminder, qualified immunity balances the need to hold public officials accountable for irresponsible use of power

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Body-Worn Camera Footage Proves that Officers’ Use of Force was Unnecessary

In this week’s case from the Eighth Circuit, an officer was denied qualified immunity. It is important to remember that when reviewing a claim of qualified immunity, courts are not allowed to resolve genuine disputes of fact in favor of the party seeking summary judgment. In this case, there were two conflicting accounts of the events, but the court had body-worn camera footage that

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Creating Your Assessment: Policies Are Only Part of It

Lately, I have been getting similar questions from various departments, “once we have our policies completed, we are ready for our assessment, right?” The answer is “no.” Completing your policies is part of the accreditation equation, but in order to be ready for your on-site assessment, there is much more to do.First, even though your policies are drafted, you will need to scrutinize each

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Wrongful Seizure Leads to Denial of Qualified Immunity for Officers

In today’s case from the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals our officers made several mistakes that led to the court ruling against qualified immunity for them. Police officers are “entitled to qualified immunity unless: (1) the evidence, viewed in the light most favorable to [the plaintiffs], establishes a violation of a constitutional or statutory right; and (2) the right was clearly established at the

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What Validates Use of Force?

Today’s case from the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals involves the use of deadly force and poses a question regarding qualified immunity. The standard used to examine the use of force is proscribed by Tennessee v. Garner. In Garner, the Supreme Court held that when an officer uses deadly force, the reasonableness of such force turns primarily on whether “the officer had probable cause

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Would You Use the “Stalking Horse” Maneuver?

Today’s case arises from the Seventh Circuit and introduces new terminology in the context of parolee rights. The distinguishable context of parolee rights is justified by the notion that insists- if you have broken the law once; the state has a special interest and right to check in on the individual, to assure the prevention of repeat offending instances.   In Griffin v. Wisconsin, the

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Deadly Use of Force Against an Armed Suspect

Today’s case from the Ninth Circuit involves the use of deadly force by a Sergeant, who was subsequently denied qualified immunity which he later appealed. On appeal from a denial of qualified immunity, the court must determine: (1) whether there has been a violation of the constitutional right; and (2) whether that right was clearly established at the time of the officer’s alleged misconduct.

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