The news is out: [This month, the United States Supreme Court issued a remarkable opinion that could pave the way to repealing qualified immunity. That doctrine — which shields government workers from accountability when they violate the constitution — relies on the policy that government workers should rarely be subject to lawsuits for money damages. But in Tanzin v. Tanvir, a unanimous Supreme Court said that it is not its business to do policy. In addition, it held that damages are not only an appropriate remedy against government workers who violate the Constitution, but that “this exact remedy has coexisted with our constitutional system since the dawn of the Republic.”
The case involves a group of Muslim men who, following the dictates of their faith, refused to cooperate with the FBI and spy on their communities. In retaliation, FBI agents placed the men on the No Fly List, robbing them of the ability to travel to see family or for work. Muhammad Tanvir, for example, lost his job as a long-haul trucker because it required him to fly cross-country after finishing deliveries.]
Qualified immunity is unconstitutional in that it places a few over We the people. No one is above the law; no one should have a license to abuse others. Government workers are public servants who are not above their employers. This was another racist decision by the court.
