Tag: Qualified Immunity

JACOB P. ZORN v. SHELA M. LINTON

No. 25–297. Decided March 23, 2026

PER CURIAM.

On the Governor’s inauguration day in Vermont, protesters staged a sit-in at the state capitol. When the capitol closed for the day, police officers told them that they would be arrested for trespassing. They refused to leave. As officers removed the protesters one by one, Sergeant Jacob

Zorn asked Shela Linton to stand up and warned her that he would eventually have to use force to remove her. She refused to stand. Zorn took Linton’s arm, put it behind her back, placed pressure on her wrist, and lifted her to her feet.

Linton sued Zorn for using excessive force, claiming that the arrest left her with arm injuries and psychological disorders. The Second Circuit held that Zorn was not entitled to qualified immunity. We reverse.

Police oppose new plan to overhaul qualified immunity

The contentious debate over qualified immunity for police officers returned to Beacon Hill as law enforcement leaders forcefully pushed back against a bill that would ease the path for civil rights claims against officers in Massachusetts courts.
— Read on www.lowellsun.com/2025/08/03/police-oppose-new-plan-to-overhaul-qualified-immunity/

How police misconduct is protected through ‘qualified immunity’ – WDET 101.9 FM

Make sure to listen to the podcast. A link to the podcast is on the website.

For decades, the doctrine of qualified immunity has protected law enforcement and other government officials from being held accountable when they violate individuals’ constitutional rights.

The rule specifically protects officials from personal consequences as long as they were acting in good faith.

The U.S. Supreme Court introduced the doctrine in 1967’s Pierson v. Ray to protect police officers from financial liability after they arrested 15 clergy members for breaching the peace after they attempted to use a segregated waiting room at a bus station.

The court revised and expanded the doctrine in 1982 by eliminating the requirement that officers must have acted in good faith and requiring that officers must have violated “clearly established law” to forgo immunity. However qualified immunity protections have developed over time to value precedent over good faith.
— Read on wdet.org/2024/07/09/how-police-misconduct-is-protected-through-qualified-immunity/