If you or a loved one have been a victim(s) of an unlawful arrest, unlawful search and seizure, or police brutality, or if you or a loved one have been killed or maimed by law enforcement due to any form of police misconduct, you may have a claim in Federal Court for damages under 42 U.S.C. ยง 1983.
Under most circumstances, the officer being sued receives free legal representation from the county or state they work for. Additionally, if the court rules that the officer has violated your rights, that same county or state will likely pay for his wrongdoing. Since the state is paying the bills, the state will more than likely rely on qualified immunity to avoid civil liability. Below, read the standard a plaintiff must overcome to avoid having their lawsuit dismissed based on qualified immunity.
"The test of qualified immunity is whether the officer, in performing discretionary functions, has engaged in conduct that violates "clearly established constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known." Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800, 818, 102 S. Ct. 2727, 73 L. Ed. 2d 396 (1982). The reasonableness of an officer's conduct is governed by an objective standard. Harlow, 457 U.S. at 818. Under the foregoing test, determining whether qualified immunity applies presents a two-pronged inquiry: "whether the facts...make out a violation of a constitutional right" and "whether the right at issue was 'clearly established' at the time of defendant's alleged misconduct." Safar, 859 F.3d at 245 (quoting Pearson v. Callahan, 555 U.S. 233, 231, 129 S. Ct. 808, 172 L. Ed. 2d 565.
At Kurtz, Peters and Associates we know how to defeat qualified immunity claims, so if you think your rights have been violated by the police, call us today at 833-252-2256.
