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Benchmarks: Photocopy of military POA not good enough 

Published: May 18, 2012

Tags: military power of attorney, §1983

A military power of attorney is a critical document for managing affairs on the home front when a spouse is deployed overseas. A Kentucky military family had to learn the hard way that only having a photocopy of that document can stop a real estate transaction dead in its tracks.

Officer isn’t immune for wrongful arrest 

Published: May 2, 2012

Tags: Fourth Amendment, immunity, §1983

A police officer was not immune from liability when sued for making an arrest without probable cause, the 4th Circuit has ruled in affirming judgment.

Police officers’ use of baton launcher excessive 

Published: May 1, 2012

Tags: civil rights, Excessive Force, §1983

Police used excessive force when they fired a baton launcher four times in order to arrest a nonviolent drunk driver who was mistakenly suspected of being a car thief, the 7th Circuit has ruled in reversing a defense verdict.

Police may be sued for releasing mentally ill detainee 

Published: May 1, 2012

Tags: civil rights, qualified immunity, §1983

Police officers who arrested a woman who exhibited symptoms of a mental health disorder in a safe location but released her into a dangerous neighborhood may be sued under §1983, the 7th Circuit has ruled.

Police aren’t liable for no-knock, nighttime search 

Published: April 20, 2012

Tags: Fourth Amendment, knock and announce rule, qualified immunity, search and seizure, §1983

Police were entitled to qualified immunity when sued for violating the Fourth Amendment by conducting a no-knock, nighttime search of a home, the D.C. Circuit has ruled in reversing judgment.

CIVIL RIGHTS 

Published: April 17, 2012

Tags: qualified immunity, §1983

A private lawyer can claim qualified immunity from a suit under §1983 over his actions in representing a public employer in an internal affairs investigation.

See “Private lawyer is immune from suit under §1983”

U.S. Supreme Court. » Continue Reading.

Private lawyer is immune from suit under §1983 

Published: April 17, 2012

Tags: qualified immunity, sick leave, Supreme Court, §1983

A private lawyer can claim qualified immunity from a suit under §1983 over his actions in representing a public employer in an internal affairs investigation, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in a unanimous decision.

School officials aren’t liable for failing to stop bullying 

Published: April 6, 2012

Tags: bullying, civil rights, §1983

School officials didn’t violate a middle school student’s civil rights by allegedly failing to protect her from bullying by her classmates, a U.S. District Court in Oklahoma has ruled in granting summary judgment.

Witness isn’t liable for false grand jury testimony 

Published: April 2, 2012

Tags: civil rights, immunity, Supreme Court, §1983

A government investigator was entitled to absolute immunity from liability for allegedly providing false testimony to a grand jury, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in a unanimous decision.

CIVIL RIGHTS 

Published: April 2, 2012

Tags: civil rights, §1983

A government investigator was entitled to absolute immunity from liability for allegedly providing false testimony to a grand jury.

See “Witness isn’t liable for false grand jury testimony”

U.S. Supreme Court. Rehberg v. Paulk, No. 10-788. April
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