The U.S. Supreme Court threw out two separate excessive-force lawsuits filed against police, ruling that the doctrine of qualified immunity protected the officers from having to answer the allegations in court
WASHINGTON—The Supreme Court threw out two separate excessive-force lawsuits filed against police, ruling Monday that the doctrine of qualified immunity protected the officers from having to answer the allegations in court.
At the scene, the suspect, Ramon Cortesluna, initially complied with police commands, the court said, citing undisputed facts from the case. But when he disregarded police instructions and lowered his hands, an officer who saw a knife in Mr. Cortesluna’s pocket, shot him with a nonlethal beanbag shotgun.
The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in San Francisco, reinstated the suit, reasoning that under similar circumstances it had permitted a claim to proceed. Both that prior suit “and this case involve suspects who were lying facedown on the ground and were not resisting either physically or verbally, on whose back the defendant officer leaned with a knee, causing allegedly significant injury,” the Ninth Circuit said.
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