How Qualified Immunity Leads To Weaponized Government

 If emboldened and protected government officials can weaponize the government against someone like Trump, then they can do the same to you.  

By Keith Gross April 12, 2023 

A bedrock American principle is that our government is not only for but also by the people. Our founders created a system in which citizens have the power to protect themselves and the nation by acting as a check against potentially authoritarian government officials. The indictment of Donald Trump shines a light on a troubling example of how that power is being removed from the people to instead protect government officials in the form of judge-created doctrines of immunity.

Since the 1870s, American citizens have been able to use legal means to hold government officials accountable for actions that violate their constitutional rights. The knowledge that citizens could take legal action against them was a good reminder to be above reproach and serve only the people’s best interest. 

But the Supreme Court has since established what is known now as the doctrine of qualified immunity and a doctrine of absolute immunity for certain officials, including prosecutors. These doctrines undermine the laws passed by Congress and shield government officials from being held accountable by the citizens they are sworn to serve, in the increasingly frequent event that they do not discharge that duty lawfully.  The effect on our government has been devastating, and never more so than now. .............To Read More....