Brooklyn Federal Judge makes waves by going against Supreme Court ruling
Judge Jack Weinstein. Eagle photo by Rob Abruzzese
Federal Judge Jack B. Weinstein wrote a decision going against a Supreme Court ruling that lessened the public’s ability to hold police accountable for misconduct and abuse of power, the New York Times reported. The 96-year-old judge who’s sat on the bench in Brooklyn’s Federal District Court since the late 1960s ruled that the Supreme Court went too far with their expansion of qualified immunity, a legal doctrine that prevents police officers from being sued for actions while on duty. “The Supreme Court’s recent emphasis on shielding public officials and federal and local law enforcement means many individuals who suffer a constitutional deprivation will have no redress,” he wrote in his ruling. He wrote that the newly expanded doctrine protects “all but the plainly incompetent.” Weinstein’s ruling comes after a spate of attention grabbing rulings in the past few years including a public call for more women in to have speaking roles in court and an announcement that he wanted to investigate perjury by the police.
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