Double secret qualified immunity
The D.C. police chief’s new five-year contract explicitly states that she is protected from civil and criminal lawsuits and drops a paragraph about collective bargaining at the center of a lawsuit brought by the Fraternal Order of Police.
Including an indemnification clause, which means Metropolitan Police Department Chief Cathy L. Lanier cannot be held liable for actions done on the job, is standard practice in contracts for police chiefs and other government officials, said Leonard A. Matarese, a public safety expert with the International City/County Management Association.
May 18th, 2012 at 12:37 pm
So much for justice and no one being above the law.
May 18th, 2012 at 12:54 pm
It’s mostly meaningless. I can sue her for violating my civil rights. I signed no contract with her.
She can go to prison for twelve years for violating my civil rights. Cf. Ramos and Compean.
It’s just an insurance coverage clause.
May 18th, 2012 at 3:01 pm
Not really, it’s pretty standard practice.
May 18th, 2012 at 4:05 pm
Yeah, no fan of Lanier, but this is pretty standard practice for executive contracts in any high up position (private or public). Just means she’s entitled to defense and coverage under the errors and omissions policy. That said, if she does something illegal, insurance will deny coverage, and most any court will refuse to uphold a hold harmless clause for illegal acts.
May 18th, 2012 at 4:12 pm
Contractual indemnity for criminal acts is unenforceable as against public policy in most states.
May 18th, 2012 at 4:42 pm
Last I checked most contracts are not bulletproof…
May 19th, 2012 at 7:02 am
What Smith said.
Despite all the power in the world she might yield in her position,she can still take a bullet. She’s still human like all the rest of us (save for fuhrer Obama)
May 20th, 2012 at 6:44 am
Lanier pre-dates Bloomberg’s stop and frisk program by a few years. She would shut down entire neighborhoods by setting up a cordon and checking every person going in or out. She also stopped people from entering areas they did not live.
It was blatantly unconstitutional and to this day she whines on radio about how effective it was (she is a regular guest on a local news-radio call-in program), and how unfair it is that she cannot keep doing it. She does not think her power should be limited by that pesky old document.
I had hopes for her. She came from the ranks – lower ranks, at that. She was once a beat cop and getting the job was a surprise to many. She has made a difference in some cases, but is all too willing to pour and drink the city council Kool-Aid.
I can understand the boot-licking. Few would hire a DC chief after they move on. You see Ramsey in Philly (that has gone amazing, hasn’t it?) but frankly few cities want the DC kind of baggage from their new chief.
May 20th, 2012 at 7:49 am
Great googly woogly!! A “public safety expert” called “A Mattress?” I fear for the Republic. The upstanding part of it, anyway.