What happens when a legal doctrine meant to protect good police becomes a shield for official misconduct? In this explosive debate, we dive deep into qualified immunity with experts from both sides of the thin blue line.

Force Science expert Von Kliem squares off against civil rights advocate Mr. BillFold in a passionate examination of whether qualified immunity serves its intended purpose. The discussion reveals startling statistics: only one-third of civil rights cases against officers involve qualified immunity defenses, and 99.98% of officers who lose qualified immunity protection never pay a dime out of pocket due to municipal indemnification.

The conversation tackles the "clearly established" standard that requires nearly identical precedent cases for rights to be protected—creating a troubling scenario where even obvious constitutional violations can escape accountability. We examine cases like Baxter v. Bracey, where officers received immunity after releasing a police dog on a surrendered suspect simply because he was sitting rather than lying down when he surrendered.

Our panelists debate whether qualified immunity truly protects good officers making split-second decisions or primarily shields bad actors from accountability. The data suggests qualified immunity cases take 23% longer than typical federal civil rights cases, contradicting claims that the doctrine efficiently resolves frivolous lawsuits.

Perhaps most surprising is that police use of force cases represent only about 23% of qualified immunity cases, with many others involving government officials like mayors and administrators. Over half of First Amendment qualified immunity cases involve alleged premeditated violations—not the split-second decisions the doctrine was supposedly created to protect.

Join us for this eye-opening examination of a judicial doctrine that affects police accountability, civil rights, and the pursuit of justice in America. Whether you support or oppose qualified immunity, this conversation will challenge your understanding of how it actually functions in our legal system.

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