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Posted on 03/24/2026 7:37:48 AM PDT by Twotone
In a case stemming from a protest over a decade ago, the Supreme Court delivered a decision this week about qualified immunity.
The Supreme Court on Monday ruled in Zorn v. Linton that a Vermont state police sergeant is entitled to qualified immunity in a case brought by a protester following a dispute at the Vermont Capitol in 2015.
In an unsigned per curiam opinion, the majority reversed the decision of a lower court, which had sided against the police officer's use of force in the case: "The Second Circuit held that Zorn was not entitled to qualified immunity.
"We reverse," the SCOTUS opinion stated.
The case revolves around a protest at the Vermont governor's inauguration on January 8, 2015. Shela Linton, a protester participating in an organized sit-in at the state Capitol building to demand universal health care, "anticipated being forcibly removed."
After some other protesters were removed by police officers, Sergeant Jacob Zorn approached Linton and attempted to get her to comply. When she resisted, Zorn unlinked her arms from the human chain the protesters had formed, "put [her arm] behind her back in a rear wristlock, and twisted her arm."
Linton alleged that Zorn's actions resulted in "physical and psychological injuries including post-traumatic stress disorder," the opinion stated.
Officials enjoy qualified immunity "unless their conduct violates clearly established law," the opinion said. The bar for finding an official in violation is quite high since it generally demands both a precedent in case law as well as a "high degree of specificity."
The Supreme Court's ruling argued that the lower court relied too heavily on a 2004 case, Amnesty America v. West Hartford, which itself arguably did not clearly establish that the specific use of force employed by Zorn violated the Constitution: "Reasonable officials would not 'interpret [Amnesty America] to establish' that using a routine wristlock to move a resistant protester after warning her, without more, violates the Constitution."
Justice Sonia Sotomayor dissented from the majority opinion and was joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson. The dissenting opinion held that "the Second Circuit did not err in holding that Zorn is not entitled to qualified immunity at this stage. At the very least, the decision below was not so wrong as to warrant the 'extraordinary remedy of a summary reversal.'"
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“Justice Sonia Sotomayor dissented from the majority opinion and was joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson.”
Of course.
“physical and psychological injuries including post-traumatic stress disorder,”
Such BS
Must suck to be on the losing side, over an over an over.
Our courts are filled with this nonsense while real criminals never get addressed.
The officer asked for compliance. After that, tough.
A good precedent that ought to help minimize future frivolous lawsuits.
If I were her shrink I’d prescribe not being a seditious f*** as a cure for her PTSD
The Court’s Dead Weight ,LOL
Frivolous lawsuits are a burden on the court system like the lawsuit against Afroman.
I asked Grok, who should have qualified immunity in a free society?
“No one. In a free society—defined by equal protection under the law, individual rights as primary, and government as a limited servant rather than a privileged master—qualified immunity has no legitimate place for anyone” Grok
Nothing good happens when women are synced up.
Amazing that somehow 20 years later 3 or more women find out that they were all raped and somehow found each other and got the same lawyer...
Law enforcement is dead if officers can later tried before cop hating courts merely for doing their job. The process is the punishment.
“...when she resisted, Zorn unlinked her arms from the human chain the protesters had formed, “put [her arm] behind her back in a rear wristlock, and twisted her arm.”
“We reverse,” the SCOTUS opinion stated.
Zorn then again “put [her arm] behind her back in a rear wristlock, and twisted her arm THE OTHER WAY.”
Instead of the constant barrage of bad legal decisions from the whacko judges in the lower courts, maybe it is time to revisit “absolute immunity” for judges from civil lawsuits. For instance, if a judge releases a convicted criminal more than 10x and that criminal murders someone, should the family have the right to sue? Congress and State Houses need to revisit this glaring hole in the justice system.
“ At the very least, the decision below was not so wrong as to warrant the ‘extraordinary remedy of a summary reversal.’””
Well God forbids judge get reversed. That would be extraordinary…
“ Justice Sonia Sotomayor dissented from the majority opinion and was joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson. The dissenting opinion held that “the Second Circuit did not err in holding that Zorn is not entitled to qualified immunity”
If this was a conservative protest, they would have ruled the opposite.
They are nothing if not predictable in their raw politics from the bench.
This decision will be a stumbling block for the American Communist Party when it returns to power and begins its promised retaliation against all ICE officers...
Of course, after they increase the SCOTUS to 20 and appoint 20 more communists to the court, this, and other, rulings can be reversed...
Ah jeez this effing PTSD BS is completely out of hand.
That literal retard judges would rule against the officer is a sad sign of the times.
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