Updated

Updated · Fox News · Jul 16

2 House Republicans Urge Supreme Court to Curb Immunity in 1st Amendment Speech Case

Updated

Updated · Fox News · Jul 16

2 House Republicans Urge Supreme Court to Curb Immunity in 1st Amendment Speech Case

Q: Can a city be held liable for civil rights violations even if its officers are immune?

Yes. A city can be held liable for a civil-rights violation even if the individual officers are protected by qualified immunity. The key distinction is that qualified immunity is a defense for individual officials, not for municipalities. Cities cannot invoke qualified immunity in a Section 1983 case. But a city is not automatically liable just because one of its officers allegedly violated someone’s rights. Under the Supreme Court’s Monell doctrine, the plaintiff must show the violation was caused by the city’s own policy, custom, decision by a final policymaker, or a failure to train or supervise that amounts to deliberate indifference. That is why Hershey’s case matters beyond the officers’ immunity. In the related Bossier City litigation, the Fifth Circuit allowed a municipal-liability claim to proceed even while finding the officers themselves immune. The city has asked the Supreme Court to review that ruling, arguing that municipal liability should not stand where the underlying right was not “clearly established” for purposes of officer liability. So the short answer is yes, but only if the plaintiff can tie the alleged constitutional injury to the city’s own institutional conduct. If the incident is treated as only an isolated act by officers, the city usually is not liable. If it reflects an official policy, entrenched practice, or obvious training failure, the city can still face damages or other relief even when the officers do not.

1 articles · Updated · Fox News · Jul 16

Two House Republicans filed an amicus brief backing Richard Hershey’s Supreme Court petition, arguing officers should not get qualified immunity for what they call obvious First Amendment violations against religious speech.
The brief says Hershey was stopped in February 2020 from handing out Christian literature on a public sidewalk outside Louisiana’s Bossier City Arena, then threatened with arrest despite no written leafletting policy.
Hershey sued five police and security officers, but a district court and the Fifth Circuit shielded them from liability, prompting claims that the ruling weakens free-speech and free-exercise protections.
Moran and Glenn Grothman argue federal appeals courts are split on whether officials can escape liability for clear First Amendment violations, making Supreme Court review necessary under Section 1983.