Qualified Immunity

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In Betts v. Shearman et al, decided May 2, 2014, the Second Circuit affirmed the dismissal of plaintiff’s claims for false arrest and malicious prosecution arising from his wife’s an encounter in which, he claims, his wife falsely accused him of assaulting her. Plaintiff alleged the following: On January 20, 2011 at approximately 11:30 p.m., while…

Read More Complaining Victim’s Allegedly False Accusation of Assault Insufficient to Establish False Arrest Claim
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Recently, in Askins v. NYC, the Second Circuit explained the relationship between the liability of individual police officers, on the one hand, and that of a municipality (such as the City of New York), on the other. Specifically, it held that the dismissal of claims against individual police officers on qualified immunity and statute of…

Read More Second Circuit: Plaintiff Can Assert Municipal Liability Claims Even if Officers Have Qualified Immunity
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The Second Circuit recently held, in Stansbury v. Wertman, that when evaluating the existence of probable cause in the context of false arrest and malicious prosecution claims, the evidence must be evaluated as a whole, and not item-by-item. In Stansbury, the plaintiff sued under 42 U.S.C. 1983, alleging false arrest and malicious prosecution following her acquittal of shoplifting charges. Defendant…

Read More Second Circuit: When Evaluating Probable Cause in the Context of New York False Arrest and Malicious Prosecution Claims, All Circumstances Must Be Considered
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Winfield v. Trottier, 11-4404 (2nd Cir. March 6, 2013) (JACOBS, Pooler, Hall): Plaintiffs sued a Vermont state trooper under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging that he violated their Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights by reading an item of mail uncovered during a search of plaintiff’s car during a traffic stop. The Second Circuit held that,…

Read More Second Circuit: Police Officer Entitled to Qualified Immunity For Reading Stopped Driver’s Mail
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The Second Circuit yesterday, in Swartz v. Insogna, vacated a summary judgment dismissing the plaintiff’s claims allegedly arising from giving police the middle finger.  (This is not the first time we have chronicled middle finger-inspired litigation.)  In its first footnote, the court briefly summarized the history of “giving the finger”, citing a case and a law review article discussing…

Read More Middle Finger Plaintiff Can Continue Suit Against Arresting Officers
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Yesterday, in Ross v. Lichtenfeld et al., the Second Circuit (WALKER, Leval, Pooler) held that a government clerk’s claim of First Amendment retaliation should have been dismissed, because she was speaking pursuant to her official duties.  The Court applied the rule of Garcetti v. Ceballos, 547 U.S. 410 (2006), that “when public employees make statements…

Read More Second Circuit Dismisses First Amendment Retaliation Claim
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In Jackler v. Byrne, 658 F.3d 225 (2011), the Second Circuit vacated the trial court’s FRCP 12(c) dismissal of plaintiff probationary police officer’s Section 1983/First Amendment retaliation claim.  Plaintiff alleged that he was fired because he refused to follow instructions to retract a report that implicated a police officer in the use of excessive force…

Read More Second Circuit Vacates Dismissal of First Amendment Retaliation Claim Brought by Police Officer Fired For Failing to Submit False Report
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Gomez v. Village of Sleepy Hollow, 2011 WL 2652439 (SDNY July 6, 2011): Facts / Procedure After allegedly seeing her husband being assaulted by several members of the police and repeated, unsuccessful attempts to seek police help, plaintiff grabbed the arm of one officer (Quinoy) and demanded that he stop.  In response, Quinoy “picked her up…

Read More SDNY: no qualified immunity for police officer who picked up and threw non-threatening plaintiff to the ground
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Bradley v. Town of Cheektowaga et al., 2011 WL 2713486 (WDNY July 13, 2011): Following his arrest (during which plaintiff claimed he was beaten by the arresting officers, handcuffed, and subjected to pepper spray), plaintiff sued individual police officers and the Town of Cheektowaga, alleging excessive force, denial of medical treatment, malicious prosecution, false arrest, assault, and…

Read More Arrestee overcomes summary judgment on excessive force, assault claims
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