To cover his bases, James filed under Section 1983, which authorizes civil rights lawsuits against state and local officials, and a so-called Bivens claim, named after a 1971 Supreme Court decision that lets individuals sue federal agents who violate a select number of constitutional rights.Įven though the officers were in Michigan executing a Michigan warrant against a Michigan resident accused of breaking Michigan law, both the district and appellate court ruled that they weren’t acting “under color of state law.” As a result, James couldn’t sue them under Section 1983, only through Bivens. This blurring of state and federal authority forces “victims of constitutional violations to play a cruel shell game,” noted the Institute for Justice, which is now representing James.įirst, courts had to determine if the task force members should be considered state or federal agents. history, today around 1,000 joint task forces are operating nationwide. Practically unheard of at the Founding and throughout most of U.S. That problem is only compounded when trying to sue members of a joint task force, like Allen and Brownback. Unfortunately, thanks to a slew of procedural barricades and immunity doctrines, it’s already very difficult to win a lawsuit against a government agent. “These officers did something that was illegal and then charged me for crimes, and the system closed around them and help them get away with that,” he said. In April 2016, James filed a lawsuit in federal court arguing that the officers had violated his Fourth Amendment rights. With the threat of criminal prosecution lifted, James was now in a position where he could try to hold Allen and Brownback accountable. Ultimately, James was vindicated: The jury acquitted him on all counts. And the legal expenses forced his parents to deplete their entire life savings to defend their son. “I spent that whole six months probably the most scared and the most stressed I have ever been in my entire life,” James recalled. A photo of the suspect law enforcement were actually searching for.
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