The Supreme Court on Monday reinstated immunity for police officers accused of civil rights violations in two separate cases from California and Oklahoma.
Monday’s cases involved an excessive force claim during a domestic disturbance call and the fatal shooting of an Oklahoma man. Lower courts refused to grant qualified immunity to officers in both cases, decisions Monday’s unsigned rulings summarily reversed.
President Joe Biden unsuccessfully lobbied Congress to pass legislation curtailing qualified immunity, a defense available to police in civil rights cases that is extremely difficult for plaintiffs to surmount. Even as Biden advocates for reform, the government’s reliance on qualified immunity has continued unabated. And the administration has yet to pursue policy changes or tactical legal moves it could enact without Congress.
The California case arose from a 2016 domestic disturbance call. A 12-year-old girl called 911 and told the dispatcher that she was barricaded in a room inside her home with her mother and her 15-year-old sister for fear of her mother’s boyfriend, Ramon Cortesluna. The girl reported that Cortesluna was using a chainsaw to destroy something inside the house and that he was a heavy drinker with "anger issues." All three feared for their safety.
