Supreme Court Rejects Qualified Immunity Defense for the First Time in Years

Earlier today, the Supreme Court issued a decision rejecting a law enforcement officer's "qualified immunity" defense. Taylor v. Riojas was the first such Supreme Court ruling since 2004. That alone makes it significant. Whether the Court will take more forceful action to curb qualified immunity in future cases remains to be seen.

Qualified immunity is the notorious doctrine under which law enforcement officers and many other government officials are immune from civil suits for violating constitutional and statutory rights in the course of performing their duties unless they have violated "clearly established" law. Courts have interpreted "clearly established" so narrowly that officers routinely get away with horrendous abuses merely because no federal court in their area has previously decided a case with essentially identical facts.