What is Qualified Immunity?



I met with a class of high school seniors in Washington DC via Zoom yesterday, who had questions about qualified immunity and about their rights are when interacting with police. It was a fantastic experience and it got me to thinking that every kid should know this information before graduating high school. Though most people have no idea what it really is….

What is Qualified Immunity?

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50 thoughts on “What is Qualified Immunity?”

  1. So, there is actually no "objective" standard for qualified immunity. Even with constitutional rights violations RECORDED, it is a "he said, he said" standard, and the one with the badge is beLIEved.
    I'm really struggling with seeing a police state being built by "judicial activism."

  2. My answer: A legal principle created whole cloth by the corrupt judiciary to protect treasonous, corrupt, rights violating cops from civil accountability.

    Let's see how accurate my definition is.

    Edit: If the principle of "fair notice" is such a good legal principle, why doesn't it seem to ever apply to citizens?

  3. Thank you for this and your other videos. Have you ever done a video about officer discretion? Seems if they just gave you a ticket when you were speeding and left you alone if you haven’t committed a crime, we’d be in a better place.

  4. I'm curious about repeat offenders. If qualified immunity is granted in one case, but the public official reoffends, violating the same constitutional right, does that change whether or not qualified immunity can be granted?

    In other words, do the definitions of "reasonable official" and "on notice" change depending upon whether or not the official has been taken to court over the constitutional right in question before?

  5. All been said and done, I do not believe in defunding the police but I do believe that qualified immunity should be stopped/ ended. How can we stop qualified immunity, that’s the question.

  6. Can you please do a video about the legalities of using POSTER 7 at the USPS to video record the inside and outside of any post office. The one part that they tend to hang an arrest or trespass from a post office for video recording and photos is "…or auditoriums when used for public meetings…". Could you please research and do a segment on this topic vital to 1st amendment auditors around the nation?

  7. Apr 6, 2020 | Police Misconduct During a criminal investigation, you have certain basic rights. There are also best practices that law enforcement officers should follow to ensure that they don’t violate the rights of an individual suspected of a crime. Unfortunately, current best practices for law enforcement officers often include intentionally lying to or misleading the subject of an investigation in order to access information and evidence. Police can lie directly to someone whom they suspect of a crime, as well as other people with secondary or tertiary connection to the crime. The better you understand your rights, the better you can determine if " police violated those rights " during an investigation or an arrest. WHY DO POLICE LIE DURING INVESTIGATION ? Police lie for a number of reasons. The first and most obvious is to create a sense of urgency in a suspect that can promote honesty when they might otherwise withhold information. Beyond that, police officers may say certain things to a suspect in order to build rapport, which means they want the suspects to trust them. Lying about what the officer believes happened or what kind of evidence the police have is a common tactic to undermine someone’s story or get them to comply with the wishes of the police. Although it is against the law for people to give false statements to the police, the same is not true for law enforcement. They can and do lie to both suspects and others during criminal investigations without any sort of consequence. " HOW POLICE LIES AFFECT THOSE ACCUSSED OF CRIMES " By misrepresenting a situation, police can make people feel like they don’t have any choice but to cooperate with law enforcement. For example, if an officer tells someone that a confidential informant places them at the scene of a crime for which the suspect has no alibi, that individual may decide to confess in the hope of securing a plea bargain that will reduce the penalties they face. Research has repeatedly demonstrated that " POLICE DISHONESTYHAS NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES " for innocent individuals suspected of a crime and may push them into confessing or pleading guilty to an offense that they had nothing to do with. If you believe that police violated your rights in the way they conducted an investigation, discussing those concerns with an attorney can help you better determine what options you have available. IMHO Nothing worse than a bad officer to tarnish all the GOOD ONE'S nbv hjg

  8. Let's Go Brandon! Let's Go Big Government! Let’s Go UNIPARTY!

    The Government (Federal, State, & Local) has gone Criminally Berserk! The People need to TAKE their Governments Back! Close the GD Borders, Restore the “Bill of Rights”, and Fix the Injustice System!

    Gee Do You Think the People are PISSED OFF? I wonder WHY? Got Totalitarianism? Got a Police State?

    The Gospel of Government! All Pesky Citizens will Shut Up, PAY, and OBEY! This is what your Government thinks of the US Citizens! We once suffered from Criminals committing crimes, now we suffer from Psychopath Control Freak Government Agents making Laws to Control every aspect of your life and Violating the Constitution!

    When the Government’s Boot is on your throat, weather it is a LEFT Boot or a RIGHT, is of NO Consequence! It is still a Government Boot and they mean to Rule You!

    Here are some Solutions to Government! Legalize Privacy, Freedom, & Liberty!

    01. Reduce the Size of Government by 20% a year for the Next 30 Years. Let them get New Green Jobs!

    02. Close the US Borders! No Visa No Entry!

    03. End all of the Warmongering around the world. Let Europe fight their own Wars!

    04. Cut all Spending by 50% (Real Cuts… NO BS!)

    05. Close 990 of the 1000 Foreign Military Bases

    06. End All the "Aid" to Foreign Countries (No Buying off Governments. US Citizens First)

    07. Get out of NATO and all Global Political Associations. They shall not be Funded.

    08. 50% Tariffs on all Chinese Goods

    09. Eliminate the "Tax Code" and Tax everyone and every company at 10% (Amounts above 60k) until the National Debt is Paid in Full then cut the rate to 1% (No Exemptions, No Subsidies, No BS)

    10. The FED shall be Abolished and the USA will go back on the Gold Standard This PONZI Scheme is shear GENIUS for everyone except the US Citizens!

    11. Set a term limit of 3 terms in the House and 1 term in the Senate; eliminate all of the "Benefits" (It is a Part Time Job) There shall be NO Permanent Capitol Employees!

    12. All Congressmen (State & Federal) shall provide their TAX returns every year on April 15 and shall be published on May 1! To include an itemized list of all current assets with values and all Income with dollar amount and source! Break the Law… go to Prison!

    13. Facial Recognition shall be Illegal, All Spying, Data Collection, and Surveillance of US Citizens shall cease immediately! This shall be incorporated into the Bill of Rights! Any Violation shall be punishable by a Mandatory Minimum of 5 years in prison and 5 million dollar fine and all reasonable attorney fees. (Paid to the Victims).

    14. Eliminate All the "Bonuses" in Government Employment/Service

    15. Sell Amtrak or Close it. The American people will no longer subsidize a Failed Rail Road!

    16. The US Post Office shall NOT receive any more Government Funding or Government Rules/Regulations (It shall operate as an Independent Business or Close… the private sector will pick up the slack)

    17. All Federal Laws and Regulations shall be made by Congress (No Government Agency shall make Regulations or Laws… All Votes shall be on the Record! There shall be NO Exemptions or Immunities from these Laws and Regulations!) To pass any bill into law a 2/3 majority shall be achieved. To repeal a law a simple majority is sufficient. There shall be NO Voice Votes. All Votes shall be “On the Record”.

    18. The Federal Government shall NOT provide Funds to any State for any Reason except the Stafford Act (the States shall remain sovereign and Independent without Federal Pressure or Funding). The Federal Government Shall NOT Buy the State Blood Suckers to screw the pesky citizens that have had enough freedom. Federal Taxes shall be spent to operate the Federal Government ONLY.

    19. The Freedom of Information Act Statute shall be amended to be Free from all or any charges for FOIA request. No government body or agency may Charge for providing and fulfilling freedom of Information request. Any noncompliance by any government body or agency or person(s) shall be punishable by a Mandatory Minimum of 5 years in prison and 5 million dollar fine.

    20. End the 1033 Program! NO Military Weapons shall be used by the Police or any other government agency!

    21. The FISA court and warrants shall not be used on US Citizens. Penalty shall be a mandatory minimum of 5 years in prison for each infraction.

    22. Red Flag Laws shall be deemed Unconstitutional and shall be Abolished!

    23. Civil Asset Forfeiture laws shall be amended. A Conviction shall be Required.

    24. Title 18 USC 241 Conspiracy Against Rights & 18 USC 242 Deprivation of Rights Under Color of Law… Needs to be amended: Punishment shall be a Mandatory Minimum of 5 years in Prison and 5 Million Dollar Fine (Paid to the Victims) including all reasonable attorney fees. Ignorance, misinterpretation, misunderstanding, or mistake of the LAW shall not be an EXCUSE or Defense by any Government, Agency, or representative thereof! This shall apply to all Governments… Federal, State, and Local. No Immunity!

    25. Qualified Immunity shall be Abolished!

    26. All Laws, Rules, Regulations that the Citizens live by shall also pertain to ALL members of Government. There shall be NO Exceptions! NO one in government shall be a special class or have special exemptions from the laws.

    27. All DUI / Driver’s License “Checkpoints” shall be deemed unconstitutional and shall be abolished! A Citizens Automobile & all electronic devices shall be protected as if it was their home!

    28. Property Tax shall be Abolished! Just tell me how much it cost to live in this BS State!

    29. A National “Brady” Database shall be constructed. This database shall be accessible without charge or “logging in” by all US Citizens.

    30. All police shall have mandatory constitutional Training in cop school and each year.

    31. It shall be illegal for a cop to Lie to any citizen about their constitutional “Rights”. Punishable by mandatory 5 years in Prison.

    32. Police shall have body worn cameras. The Cameras shall never be muted and shall remain on during every interaction with a citizen. Punishable by mandatory 5 years in Prison.

    33. Terry v Ohio doctrine shall be Abolished your 4th Amendment right shall be reinstated!

    34. The single subject amendment which would introduce a single-subject rule blocking members of Congress from adding riders to bills.

    35. No Government (Federal, State, or Local) shall sell, publish, share or discriminate any citizen’s personal Data. Any noncompliance by any government body or agency or person(s) shall be punishable by a Mandatory Minimum of 5 years in prison and 5 million dollar fine.

    I am sure there should be more but this should take care of the vast majority of Federal, State, and Local Government Abuses!

    Albert Einstein – “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results.”

    Who are the REAL CRIMINALS? The Red Team & the Blue Team! What Constitution? What Bill of Rights? What a Great Country Founded by Geniuses, but Run by Idiots, Morons, and Control Freak Psychopaths!

    Major General Smedley Butler USMC – "There are only two things we should fight for. One is the defense of our homes and the other is the Bill of Rights.”

  9. LAWyers and poliTICians are the only 2 professions$ not governed by a BOARD that has other professionals besides LAWyer/poliTICians$ .. the BAR governs ITself! and THE BAR CLUB is the CLUB GEORGE Carlin said 'you ain't in it' meaning the rePUBLIC! has no say overSIGHT of the BAR club and those at the TOP of IT are JUDGES$ > 12 FED APPeaLES CoUrT JUDges$ and the 13th is SCOT-US who's CHIEF JUDge is today is the 17*th is *JOHN gLOVER RObErts JR .. JOHN JR is the heir of MARTha WASHingTON ..nee DAN-DR-ID-GE whose 1st husband was DAN-I-EL CUStice from the same FAMILY TREE of DAN/DNA of JESUS = 74/47 = JOHN tHE BApTist … who's HEad is served on a pLATtEr > PETer RABBIt < is running LATE for a VIP dATE … doroTHYdoor follows HIM to the *Q*eens' tABLE/ABEL "t" is the cro$$ over point for PETer to SINk or not! now comes the 2nd ACT of ROE v WADE as a 'means' to kILL 1st born SOnS in the womb that SHE regrets!!!

  10. Qualified immunity is a 'loophole' in canNON LAW$ of CAIN$ domain at the TOP of the food ChAIN as no JUDGE who is poliTICally appointed has the right to make 'case' LAW. These Judges have no right to tell the JURY anything! The JURY should be ABEL to ask Questions of any witness. The Jury should be the only body to decide guilt or not AND what PENalty the guilty are to get v the phucKING JUDGE! as WE the PEOPLE are the LAW in a Court where the RULE of LAW is not colored over by poliTICally appointed LAWyer/poliTICians$ by fellow LAWyer/poliTICians$ of the JUDI-CIA-L commITTess$ who have minion over JUDges$ comPENsation and perks$ …. CONgre$$ is the body of the bea$t whilst JUDGES$ are the HEAD of IT and their 2 tAILs$ are the BADges$ and BOOts$ ….

  11. Excuse me! It wasn’t drafted out of thin air. I’m no lawyer but I believe it has something to do with Watergate or something else so if I’m wrong let me know but it wasn’t it wasn’t produced out of thin air sorry sir

  12. In this sense qualified immunity creates a two tiered legal system. As a person being tried for a crime I cannot use my ignorance of the law I am charged with as a defense. However, the way qualified immunity is most often applied, a law enforcement officer can claim a lack of knowledge that he was in fact violating the rights of an individual or that it was a crime to commit the acts in question as a defense and have it justify the granting of qualified immunity. How that is not a violation of the due process clause of the 14th Amendment is mind boggling.

  13. The Civil Rights Lawyer puts out real educational content of the highest quality. Btw if you want a laugh check out the Alex Jones deposition for the Sandy Hook case. Pure legal pwnage. 😅

  14. As a successful counsel such as yourself, one would hope one could convince and unite many wholesome law firms into stepping up and participating in "career day" right alongside or after the cops that already indoctrinate every level of required K-12 educational institutions. And most importantly, affect a change of the civic educational curriculum to include the most basic education of constitutional bill of rights, court procedure, basic cop-interaction practices, the dangers of political participation, and champion mock "trials" and traffic stops to prepare children for the REAL world. Changing the civic curriculum back to what it once was should be the easiest because there already were textbooks before, and the constitutions, state and federal, still are easily accessible and never changing.
    But I guess it would be career suicide to have properly educated generations of children in the future.

  15. BODY camera argument?::

    Mr x

    0 seconds ago

    TRASH trucks/recycling trucks has their camera on constantly recording all the trash that is dumped into his tuck from the curb side trash bins ,,,, landfills record were EACH load is dumped in a landfill ,,,,, so YES BODY camera stays ON from clock in to clock out, WHAT MORE ?? your camera's record a whole lot of "public" license plates and info is keeped HOW LONG ? i had just posted this on a flordia site thought you citizens could use it.

  16. In my opinion they need to abolish qualified immunity. And as for the elderly man that was shot and killed by a law enforcement when they were at the wrong house that family should have got paid very well. As if they say his life was meant nothing and that his death was not worthy of compensation to the family. It's truly sad and amazing how many times cops get away with murder or manslaughter that the average person would go to prison for.

  17. THREE ETERNAL RULES UPPERMOST TO KEEP IN MIND:
    1. NEVER TRUST THE GOV´MENT
    2. NEVER TRUST MEDlA-PEOPLE
    3. NEVER TRUST THE THE POLlCE
    Actually these three can be shortened into one rule:
    ALWAYS BEWARE OF & NEVER EVER TRUST LlARS !
    ("Media-people are sub-humans !" -Dr. T. Lobsang Rampa)

  18. I can answer that. Qualified immunity is a strange and uniquely American concept that makes no sense elsewhere, but legal fictions like it can survive when you use common law doctrines. In countries guided by the civil law doctrine fictions can not be created out of thin air. The judiciary does not serve any political purpose. That is the job of legislators.

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