Appeals court rules cops should have qualified immunity in violent takedowns
CNN
A federal appeals court on Tuesday granted so-called qualified immunity to Louisiana officers who were accused of forcing an unarmed Black man to the ground and beating him into compliance, a case that experts say exemplifies how difficult it can be for victims of police brutality to overcome the controversial doctrine in court.
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a 2019 US District Court decision that said the officers violated the man's constitutional rights during the encounter and the qualified immunity defense could not protect them in court, clearing the way for the case to go to trial. "This case is an example of just how stringent the 'clearly established law' standard in the qualified immunity defense can be," said Alexander Reinert, a professor at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University who authored a recent study on qualified immunity for police officers.
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