May 30, 2020 5:36PM # In the Wake of George Floyd’s Death, All Eyes Turn to SCOTUS By [Jay Schweikert](https://www.cato.org/people/jay-schweikert) --- SHARE This past Monday, George Floyd was killed by a police officer, Derek Chauvin, who pressed his knee against Mr. Floyd’s neck for over eight minutes, while Mr. Floyd and onlookers alike begged for the officer to stop and let Mr. Floyd breathe. George Floyd’s death was no aberrant act of random violence. Rather, as my colleague [Clark Neily wrote](https://www.cato.org/blog/officer-involved-killing-george-floyd) earlier this week, Mr. Floyd was “the latest victim of our near‐​zero‐​accountability policy for law enforcement.” As such, I expect his death has been weighed with a special kind of gravity on One First Street, where the Justices of the Supreme Court deliberated this week on whether to reconsider [qualified immunity](https://www.unlawfulshield.com/frequently-asked-questions-about-qualified-immunity/)—an atextual, ahistorical judicial doctrine that shields public officials from liability, even when they break the law. [ [![Media Name: police_body_cam.png](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/promo_block/public/wp-content/uploads/police_body_cam.png?itok=w7tG0tiJ)](https://www.cato.org/qualified-immunity) ##### Related Content ### [Read more from Cato on Qualified Immunity](https://www.cato.org/qualified-immunity) - “[Qualified Immunity: A Legal, Practical, and Moral Failure](https://www.cato.org/publications/policy-analysis/qualified-immunity-legal-practical-moral-failure),” by Jay Schweikert - “[Poll: 63% of Americans Favor Eliminating Qualified Immunity for Police](https://www.cato.org/publications/survey-reports/poll-63-americans-favor-eliminating-qualified-immunity-police),” Cato Survey Report by Emily Ekins - “[What Is Qualified Immunity?](https://www.cato.org/multimedia/cato-video/what-qualified-immunity)” by Jay Schweikert - Read [Cato’s legal brief in *Corbitt v. Vickers*](https://www.cato.org/publications/legal-briefs/corbitt-v-vickers), by Clark Neily and Jay Schweikert [Read more Cato scholarship on qualified immunity and criminal justice.](https://www.cato.org/qualified-immunity) ](/research/criminal-law-civil-liberties) Over the last several days, I have observed with grim satisfaction that reporters and commentators of all stripes have appropriately recognized the direct connection between qualified immunity and the senseless murder of George Floyd. For example: - The [New York Times](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/29/opinion/Minneapolis-police-George-Floyd.html) pulls no punches, running an editorial on the subject of “How the Supreme Court Lets Cops Get Away With Murder.” They correctly explain that, while there are a variety of reasons police officers are rarely held to account for their misconduct, “it is the Supreme Court that has enabled a culture of violence and abuse by eviscerating a vital civil rights law to provide police officers what, in practice, is nearly limitless immunity.” - [Fox News](https://www.foxnews.com/politics/george-floyd-case-revives-debate-on-qualified-immunity-for-government-officials) also reports that “\[t\]he death of [George Floyd](https://www.foxnews.com/category/person/george-floyd) at the hands of a [Minneapolis](https://www.foxnews.com/category/us/us-regions/midwest/minnesota) police officer has done more than just trigger massive protests and riots—it’s brought a simmering debate on ‘qualified immunity’ for government officials to a veritable boil.” The Fox piece describes how qualified immunity has “come under fire even from judges on President Trump’s Supreme Court shortlist, like Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Don Willett,” who wrote in a 2018 concurring opinion that “\[t\]o some observers, qualified immunity smacks of unqualified impunity, letting public officials duck consequences for bad behavior—no matter how palpably unreasonable.” - At [USA Today](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/05/29/police-misconduct-supreme-court-reconsider-qualified-immunity/5275816002/), Richard Wolf describes how “Legal immunity for police misconduct, under attack from left and right, may get Supreme Court review.” He notes that “\[t\]he brutal death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police has re-energized a national debate over misconduct by law enforcement officials that the Supreme Court may be poised to enter.” - [Slate](https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/05/george-floyd-supreme-court-police-qualified-immunity.html)’s Mark Joseph Stern writes that “George Floyd’s killing by Minneapolis police officers shows the damage the court has wrought” through the doctrine of qualified immunity. He further explains how “\[a\]t their conference on Thursday, the justices will have an opportunity to begin unraveling the catastrophic case law that allows so many officers—including, apparently, Floyd’s killers—to murder civilians with impunity. The court has an obligation to fix what it broke.” - At [Reason](https://reason.com/2020/05/29/the-supreme-court-has-a-chance-to-end-qualified-immunity-and-prevent-cases-like-george-floyds/), C.J. Ciaramella writes that “The Supreme Court Has a Chance To End Qualified Immunity and Prevent Cases Like George Floyd’s,” and explains that the Court “could announce as early as Monday that it’s taking up several cases involving the doctrine.” Suffice to say, when both the New York Times and Fox News have basically the same take on such a charged issue, it’s a good sign they’re onto something. On Monday morning, we’ll learn whether the Supreme Court intends to take the first step toward correcting the legal and moral perversities of qualified immunity. If the Court declines to address this issue now, it will not only be a shameful black mark on the Court’s reputation—it will also exacerbate what is already a severe crisis of confidence in law enforcement across the nation. ##### Related Tags [Constitutional Law](https://www.cato.org/constitutional-law), [Supreme Court](https://www.cato.org/supreme-court), [Criminal Justice](https://www.cato.org/criminal-justice), [Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies](https://www.cato.org/robert-levy-center-constitutional-studies) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).