Chapter 11: Civil and Criminal Remedies for Constitutional Violations Flashcards
3 Additional Remedies deterring police from constitutional (4th, 5th, 6th Amend.) violations
Civil Remedies
Criminal Remedies
Administrative Remedies
These remedies are aimed at the legal ______________ of officers, not the ____________ of _____________ from trial.
responsibility; exclusion; evidence
Civil Remedies
Suing…
- individual officer
- officer’s supervisor
or
- local govt
…for money damages.
Also, it’s requesting court order that police stop practices that violate constitutional rights.
Criminal Remedies
State & federal officers criminally prosecuted and punished.
Administrative Remedies
Officers may have administrative procedures.
- i.e. fines, suspension, termination, etc.
Dual Sovereignty Doctrine
Exception to “Double Jeopardy.”
both federal and state jurisdiction over punishing criminal offense.
A ________ suit is a _______ action, made primarily to _____________ victim, rather than punish ______________ (person who committed the tort).
civil; tort; compensate; tortfeasor
Police officers and public officials may be sued for _____________ if the victim believes their ______________ rights were violated. Also, in exceptional cases of _____________ abuse, plaintiff may be awarded ______________ damages, to ________ future law enforcement agents from repeating that kind of behavior.
damages; constitutional; intentional; punitive; deter
Two types of Tort Actions that can be taken
- Against State Officers
(State Civil Remedies) - Against Federal Officers
(Federal Civil Remedies)
42 U.S.C. § 1983
state officers may be sued for acting under the color of state law to violate one’s federal or constitutional rights in state or federal court.
Injunctive relief can be requested in court order to halt all unconstitutional police practices depriving people of their rights.
Bivens Legal statute
federal officers may be sued for violation of federal / constitutional rights in federal court.
In state civil remedies under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, the burden of proof is on the _____________ to demonstrate their _____________ have been violated.
plaintiff; constitutional
3 Elements of state civil remedies claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983
- Color of the Law: police have to have acted under color of state law.
- Constitutional Right: police have to have violated a constitutional right.
- Immunity: police receive qualified immunity, only subject to tort action when they violate “well established constitutional right.”
Color of State Law
Defendant (officer) acting under the authority of state law.
One can be __________ in and act under the ___________ of state law, and still violate one’s constitutional rights.
clothed; authority
Determining whether one is acting under the _________ of ________ law is based on the ____________ of ____________. A judge will ask were the actions of the officer (defendant) in furtherance of their____________ as a police officer or as a ___________ citizen. Some judges will look at, for example an off-duty officer _______________ as a security guard, whether during their service as a security guard they used their state-licensed police firearms.
color; state; totality; circumstances; responsibilities; private; moonlighting
For a state civil remedy to work, there must be a violation of a “well ___________ ___________ right.” Under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, a plaintiff can claim their ___th amendment right against unlawful __________, and unreasonable _________ and _________ was violated. They may also claim that ______________ force was exercised during arrest (seizure of ___________). Claims to violation of the ____th Amendment against ____________ _____________ and claims of violation of ____th amendment right to ________ _________may also be made. All the time, prisoners make claims, under § 1983, of violation of ____th amendment right against ___________ and __________ punishment.
established constitutional; 4th; arrest; search; seizure; unreasonable; persons; 5th; self incrimination; 6th; legal counsel; 8th; cruel; unusual
Liability under § 1983 may be imposed on an ____________ officer, the officer’s _____________ officer, or public _________ officials (i.e. the mayor) for _____________ of __________ abuse.
individual; commanding; city; pattern; police
This right under § 1983 to impose ___________ liability on ______________ officers establishes an “____________ _________” between the supervising officer’s actions and the lower-ranked police ____________.
This “__________ __________” was established in Shaw v. Stroud, (1994), where supervising officer C.I. was held accountable for the ___________ forced exercised by Officer Alfred Morris. Court of Appeals ruled Sergeant C.I.’s __________ about Officer Morris’ regular disregard for _____________ use of force and didn’t do anything about it. It’s because of this negligence that led to the ______________ shooting and killing of the suspect during an arrest.
individual; supervising; “affirmative link”; misconduct
“affirmative link”; excessive; negligence; appropriate; foreseeable
Absolute Immunity
Applied to prosecutors, judges, juries, and witnesses
Full immunity from being sued under § 1983.
To ensure that civil proceedings function smoothly.
Qualified Immunity
state officers / public officials are subject to suits under § 1983, ONLY WHEN they violate “well established” federal constitutional right / federal statute.
Test to establish qualified immunity is whether a ______________ officer would conclude that a certain act is _______________.
reasonable; unlawful
Steps in Establishing civil suit under § 1983 against officer with qualified immunity
Step #1: did defendant violate constitutional right?
Step #2: was the right a “well established” constitutional right.
Step #3: Hold officer liable ONLY for violating clearly established constitutional or federal right.
As stated before, ____________, ____________, ____________, and ____________ are immune from being sued under § 1983. This means a __________ suit cannot be brought against them for their ______ in court. Obviously if any of these courtroom officials engage in anything underhanded like ____________, ____________, or ___________ then they may be prosecuted.
judges; prosecutors; witnesses; jurors; civil; role; corruption; conspiracy; bribery
In Mireles v. Waco (1991), the Supreme Court ruled that a judge is not liable under § 1983 for forcing an attorney to be ___________ into the court room. It was ruled that it was _____________ that a judge should have the power to ___________ all necessary members for a trial be present in the courtroom.
brought; reasonable; force
A question of major concern is whether or not police, or other govt officials can be held ___________ liable for not protecting the ___________ from crime by responding to an a ____________? Is there really a difference between an officer ___________ harming someone and ___________ to respond to crime that leads to serious injury / death? The general rule is that police do ______ have an affirmative legal _______________ to intervene and protect the general _____________.
civilly; public; report; directly; failing; NOT; obligation; public.
The Supreme Court held that the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment does not _____________ the government to ___________ to protect the _________, __________, or ___________ of private individuals, over whom the government has _______ control.
force; intervene; life, liberty; property; no
An exception to the general rule that officers are not __________ liable for failing to ____________ on the actions of _____________ individuals that lead to crime, is “state-__________ __________.”
civilly; intervene; private; created danger
State-Created Danger Doctrine
Exception to general rule about officer duty to protect.
Danger that the victim wouldn’t have otherwise been exposed to if not for the states actions.
when state creates a situation that leads the victimization of a private individual, the officer/govt may be held liable for not respondent to that danger.
State _____________ and state ____________ are immune from liability under § 1983. ____________ government agencies are not exempt from such ____________.
Cities, counties, and local government agencies are ___________ under § 1983 when carrying out official ________________ policy or custom.
government; agencies; local; liability
liable; governmental
Local govt agencies are not __________ under § 1983 in situations where an officer takes the __________ into their own __________. They cannot be held liable because an employee ____________ someone’s rights.
liable; law; hands; violated
§ 1983 also provides _____________ relief.
injunctive
Injunction
Court order, compelling individual or government to stop unlawful act/practice.
Pattern-or-Practice Decree
From 42 U.S.C. 14141
Attorney general, based on reasonable cause, asks a court to order than govt / police department change a certain practice that tends to deprive others of their constitutional rights or other rights under U.S. law.
The practice has to be widespread, can’t just be an isolated incident.
State police department may work together with the __________ of ___________, and enter into a ____________ decree, where officers voluntarily ___________ to police “_________ practices” regarding procedures like arrest, use of force, searches and seizures, etc.
Department; Justice; consent; agree; best
State police agencies may be held liable under _________ law, compensating plaintiffs for ____________ that caused ________. Counties, and state government may also be held liable under __________ in some circumstances as well.
tort; wrongdoings; harm; tort
Under tort law, plaintiffs can be awarded _______________ damages, meant to compensate for what the plaintiff may have _________–to make the plaintiff ___________ again. They may also recover _____________ damages, which is sometimes _________ than the compensatory amount, and are meant to punish and __________ the _____________ (person who committed the _________) from acting in such reckless fashion again.
compensatory; lost; whole; punitive; more; deter; tortfeasor; tort
Tort Action
Suit in state court for damages to compensate individuals who have suffered harm.
Tort actions are difficult to win, since it must be proven that the action that caused harm to the plaintiff was executed in “___________ or _____________” fashion. This means the burden of proof is on the _____________ to prove by _____________ of _____________ (51%), that the officer understood the act was __________, or exercised negligence / ____________ for the risk his actions had on the plaintiff.
willful; malicious; plaintiff; preponderance; evidence; harmful; disregard
If the police exercise _____________ force, then the plaintiff has to prove in a _______ for ___________ use of force that use of force was ____________ with the intent to __________ them, OR that they acted without ____________ grounds to believe that the plaintiff posed a ___________ to the officer.
excessive; tort; excessive; purposeful; injure; reasonable; threat
The Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents, (1971), ruling was pivotal because § 1983 only applied to ________ agents, instead of __________ officials. The Bivens ruling decided that citizens have the right to hold ___________ officials ___________ liable for violations of ______________ and other ___________ rights.
state; federal; federal; civilly, constitutional; federal
Bivens legal actions are basically the same as § 1983 legal claims. Courtroom officials including the __________, ________, _____________, and _____________ all receive ______________ immunity. Federal law enforcement officers, heads of agencies, etc. receive ______________ immunity.
Neither a federal ____________ nor the federal ___________ may be sued under Bivens legal action (you can only sue agents).
judge; jury; prosecutor; witness; absolute; qualified
agency; government
Elements of a Bivens suit (3)
1) Color of the Law
- defendant must be acting within capacity/authority of official duties (under federal law).
2) Constitutional Right
- defendant has to have violated a clearly established constitutional right.
3) Reasonableness
- defendant may be held liable for violation of clearly established constitutional right or other federal right, AND reasonable person would be aware that acts are unlawful under circumstances.
Federal Tort Claims Act
Partial waiver of sovereign “absolute” immunity federal government receives (“the king can do no wrong”) against Bivens suits.
Federal govt can be held civilly liable if a federal officer commits…
- assault
- battery
- false imprisonment
- false arrest
- abuse of process
- malicious prosecution
State and local police officers may be _________ in __________ and ___________ court. However, ____________ are reluctant to charge police with crime, since they are ___________ on police cooperation in several other instances (cases). Also ___________ are pretty hesitant to ______________ police officers. Also, there are times when the only eyewitness accounts a prosecutor can rely on is by the police, who, in this case, _____________ to commit criminal activity. For these reasons, prosecutors encourage ________________ to seek a __________ remedy before trying a ______________ prosecution.
tried; state; federal; prosecutors; reliant; jurors; convict; conspire; plaintiffs; civil; criminal
Police are charged under the same criminal statutes as ____________ , and may be prosecuted for crimes like homicide, assault, battery, sexual offenses, bribery, extortion of ___________ or ___________, __________ onto private property and hate crimes. Historically, police have been found to be involved in organized ______________ crime in several states. They will often seize drugs during ___________ searches and seizures, and ___________ them for profit to other on the ____________, or back to the ___________ from which the drugs originated.
citizens; money; drugs; trespass; drug; unlawful; resell; street; dealers
The U.S. ____________ of ______________ may prosecute ____________ and ____________ law enforcement and other criminal justice officials for violating _________ protecting individual’s ________________ rights, under 18 U.S.C. § 242 (1866 Civil Rights Law) where an officer acts under the ____________ of law and violates one’s _______________ protections or other ____________ laws.
Department; Justice; state; federal; laws; constitutional; color; constitutional; federal
Administrative Remedies
Nonjudicial administrative procedures conducted by agencies independent of the police department.
Two Forms of Administrative Remedies
Internal Affairs
Civilian Review
Internal Affairs
- Unit of Police Dept. that investigates officer misconduct.
- Administers punishment by approval of commanding officer who consults police sergeant.
Civilian Review
Committees of private citizens who have authority to investigate and punish police.
“Blue Wall of Silence”
Police refusal to report misconduct of other officers.
Civilian Review
Civilian review boards that investigate and punish police misconduct.
Made up of civilians, police, judges, and lawyers.
Criticisms of Civilian Review:
1) civilians aren’t familiar with the in-the-__________ ____________ associated with being an officer.
2) Having civilians administer punishment degrades the ___________ and ____________ accorded to police _______________.
moment; pressures
respect; authority; administors
testilying
police officers lying during testimony.
