Court Bends Space-Time Continuum to Shield Police From Liability

[justaprogressive]

Samuel Scott Jr. had a bad day on June 1, 2018. After he parked his Jeep Compass with the keys in the ignition and the engine running near his aunt’s home in Miami, a thief hopped in the vehicle and drove away.

This was just the beginning of Scott’s troubles. Things got worse when he called the Miami Police Department. The responding officers accused Scott of faking the theft, even though it was physically impossible for him to have done it. The police arrested Scott anyway and hauled him to jail, where detention officers strip-searched him and held him overnight.

Prosecutors later looked at the evidence and refused to press charges. Scott spent the next seven years trying to hold the police accountable in civil court. But his quest for justice fizzled without a trial last month at the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The case highlights the crazy, mixed-up world of qualified immunity, a judge-made doctrine that shields public employees from accountability when they violate civil rights.

The Miami saga played out on two fronts. Scott reported the theft at 5:40 p.m., dispatchers released a bulletin about the theft at 6:22 p.m., and an officer met Scott where the Jeep had disappeared at 6:30 p.m.

Elsewhere, a patrol officer saw the Jeep speeding at 6:05 p.m. He did not yet know the vehicle was stolen, but he turned on his sirens and followed it until it crashed into a parked car. After the driver fled on foot, the officer searched the Jeep and found an unregistered gun and marijuana.

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2025/07/court-bends-space-time-police-shield-liability.html

[ck4829]

1. Call the cops at your own risk