Congress passed section 1983 of the Federal Code in 1871. In 1874 an unnamed secretary of Congress “copied” section 1983 from The Congressional Record into The Federal Register. The unnamed secretary illegally revised the law by removing a 16 word clause that outlawed all immunity from prosecution previously given by the states to government officials. This error wasn’t caught and reported on until May 15 of this year (2023). In 1982 Harlow V Fitzgerald went in front of The SCOTUS. The 1982 SCOTUS in their closing remarks found it strange that the 1871 Congress would explicitly outlaw all other forms of immunity, but remained “strangely silent” on immunities granted previously at the state level. This decision is what started Qualified Immunity.
Qualified Immunity is explicitly outlawed. Congress never changed the law. The entire government are all complicit, once they are informed that the law was never changed.
Congress passed section 1983 of the Federal Code in 1871. In 1874 an unnamed secretary of Congress “copied” section 1983 from The Congressional Record into The Federal Register. The unnamed secretary illegally revised the law by removing a 16 word clause that outlawed all immunity from prosecution previously given by the states to government officials. This error wasn’t caught and reported on until May 15 of this year (2023). In 1982 Harlow V Fitzgerald went in front of The SCOTUS. The 1982 SCOTUS in their closing remarks found it strange that the 1871 Congress would explicitly outlaw all other forms of immunity, but remained “strangely silent” on immunities granted previously at the state level. This decision is what started Qualified Immunity.
Qualified Immunity is explicitly outlawed. Congress never changed the law. The entire government are all complicit, once they are informed that the law was never changed.
can I get a source on this? sounds interesting
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/15/us/politics/qualified-immunity-supreme-court.html
Thanks!
Here are some other links for those of us with no access to NYT:
https://www.americanbar.org/groups/gpsolo/publications/gp_solo/2023/september-october/police-accountability-qualified-immunity-revisited/
https://www.cato.org/blog/judge-willett-concurrence-highlights-qualified-immunitys-flawed-foundation
(I believe CATO is a political group, libertarian?)
https://www.abajournal.com/news/article/is-qualified-immunity-doctrine-based-on-a-scriveners-error-law-review-article-makes-the-case/
(Discussion about the transcription specifically)
This is the first I’ve heard of this!
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/15/us/politics/qualified-immunity-supreme-court.html