Byline: Washington Post
WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court made it tougher for victims of police brutality to successfully sue local governments, holding in a sharply divided 5-4 ruling that a municipality cannot be held liable for an officer's actions even if he had a history of assault before being hired.
The decision's impact goes beyond excessive police force disputes and would affect cases filed over any violation of a federally protected civil right. The court, in an opinion signed by Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, said a victim must show that a city or county consciously disregarded the risk of hiring a person and that the injuries were a ``plainly obvious …
No comments:
Post a Comment