Brady Violations, Child Abduction, Qualified Immunity, and Confessions of Error

SCOTUS grants qualified immunity to Vt. officer who arrested protester using a rear wristlock

The Court ruled that it was not clearly established that Vermont State Police Sgt. Jacob Zorn violated Shela Linton’s Fourth Amendment rights, entitling him to qualified immunity in the 2015 case

Brady violations, child abduction, qualified immunity, and confessions of error

The Relist Watch column examines cert petitions that the Supreme Court has “relisted” for its upcoming conference. A short explanation of relists is available here. This week, the Supreme Court started thinning the relist herd. The court summarily reversed in eight-time relist Zorn v. Linton, once again reminding lower courts that denying police qualified immunity for excessive force requires closely analogous precedent, not high-level generalit…

US Supreme Court rules Vermont police officer is immune from excessive-force suit stemming from 2015 protest

“The majority today,” Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in dissent, “gives officers license to inflict gratuitous pain on a nonviolent protestor even where there is no threat to officer safety or any other reason to do so.”

Supreme Court Shields Vermont Officer From Lawsuit After Protest "Wristlock" - Tampa Free Press

The Supreme Court on Monday cleared the way for a Vermont police officer to receive qualified immunity, reversing a lower court decision that would have allowed a protester to sue him for using a painful “wristlock” technique during a 2015 sit-in. The case, Zorn v. Linton, centered on the arrest of Shela Linton during a […] Supreme Court Shields Vermont Officer From Lawsuit After Protest “Wristlock”

Supreme Court Grants Qualified Immunity in Vermont Case

The Supreme Court on Monday reversed a federal appeals court and granted qualified immunity to a Vermont police detective who arrested a nonviolent protester at the state capitol in 2015. In the same batch of orders, the justices declined to hear the case of a Texas death-row inmate seeking DNA testing of the murder weapon and refused to review the arrest of a citizen journalist charged for asking a public official a question. The court's three …