[Lurker]

“Qualified immunity is an extension of the English common law principle of “sovereign immunity” — which basically means a sovereign government cannot be sued without its consent.”

I know what it is and where it came from.

“Would any government even allow motor vehicles to operate on public roads if it could be sued for damages every time someone was involved in a motor vehicle crash?“

Apples and Polar Bears.

L

[Alberta's Child]

Eliminate qualified immunity from police officers and you'd no longer have the police operating as a government agency or department. Without qualified there would be absolutely no incentive for any government to even have a police force at all under its government jurisdiction. Instead, a government would have every reason to contract their police work out to security firms like Blackwater. Does that sound like a scenario you'd recommend?

Here's an interesting little tidbit from my own field of work where the issue of sovereign immunity has come into play ...

Remember all the controversy a few years about the numerous cases around the country where state governments sold long-term leases on toll roads to private companies -- where almost all of the investors who bought these leases were foreign interests? Do you even hear any clamoring about this anymore?

I haven't heard a peep about it in years -- and there's a reason for it: Most of these transactions have been colossal blunders for the investors. And a big reason for this is tied to a key ruling in a civil lawsuit some years ago -- where the private company operating the Indiana Toll Road lost a legal battle to claim sovereign immunity in their operation of the roadway. So the State of Indiana would have sovereign immunity if it operated the highway, but a private company would not.

Guess what ... No investor with half a brain would ever buy a toll road concession under these terms.