Tenth Amendment Center: Ugly Truth: The Supreme Court Doesn’t Protect Your Liberty
Here’s an ugly truth we all need to come to terms with: the Supreme Court does not protect your rights.
The Supreme Court is part of the government. First and foremost — government protects itself.
Oh, you may get a few crumbs thrown your way from time to time — enough to keep you married to the system. But if you look back over time, you’ll find that the SCOTUS almost always expands government power at the expense of your liberty.
You’ve probably heard a lot about “qualified immunity” for cops in recent weeks. Fixing it is one of the most common-sense reforms that could be instituted to rein in police excessive force.
Qualified immunity is a legal doctrine that shields cops from liability for actions taken in the line of duty unless they violate rights “clearly established” by existing judicial precedent. No statute exists granting qualified immunity. Federal courts made this up out of thin air and have applied it to every law enforcement officer in the U.S. through the bogus incorporation doctrine. You can read more about how that happened HERE.
In practice, qualified immunity makes it extremely difficult to legally punish police officers for using excessive force or committing other acts of misconduct.
The Supreme Court had the opportunity to roll qualified immunity back. It declined. It refused to even hear the cases and let the doctrine stand unchallenged.
Some of the cases the High Court took a pass on are pretty awful. For example, the Court let stand an Eleventh Circuit decision granting immunity to a police officer who shot a 10-year-old child in the back of the knee, while repeatedly attempting to shoot a pet dog that wasn’t threatening anyone.
For decades, people have told me we have to get “good conservatives” on the Court to save the Republic. Court justices have come and gone over the years but the Republic still isn’t saved. The problem is, “good conservatives” are often really bad on things like the Fourth Amendment — just as bad as the lefties are on the Second Amendment.
I’ve said for years that relying on politically appointed lawyers to protect your rights is a bad strategy. And I stand by it.
Mike Maharrey
June 25, 2020 at 12:16PM
