TBA Law Blog

TBA Law Blog

Court Rules for Police in 2 Cases

Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on Nov 11, 2014
News Type: U.S. Supreme Court

Two decisions from the U.S. Supreme Court yesterday upheld the rights of police officers. In the first case, the court found that failure to cite Section 1983 of the Civil Rights Act in a suit for alleged due-process violations did not doom a claim brought by fired police officers. The officers had sued the city of Shelby, Mississippi, claiming they were fired because they brought to light an alderman’s criminal activity. Their suit alleged violations of due-process rights but did not cite Section 1983. A trial judge and the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals had ruled that the oversight required dismissal of the suit. In the second case, the court ruled that a police officer that entered a couple’s backyard and accessed their deck without a warrant was entitled to qualified immunity because of the facts of the case. The lower court had ruled the officer should have used the front door under the “knock and talk” exception to getting a warrant. The ABA Journal reports on both cases.

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