Judge Carleton Reeves of the Southern District of Mississippi is one of the most eloquent and powerful critics of qualified immunity doctrine on the bench. His 2020 decision in Jameson v. McClendon was breathtaking. It's power and beauty has been matched by a decision Judge Reeves issued May 20 in Green v. Thomas. Judge Reeves denies defendants qualified immunity, concluding that they violated clearly established law. Yet he goes further, demonstrating why qualified immunity is unsupportable as a matter of history, text, and policy. He additionally argues that any concerns about overturning settled law--referred to as stare decisis--ring hollow after the Court's decision in Dobbs, overturning Roe v. Wade. I'm honored that Judge Reeves has relied upon my research about the lack of convincing policy justifications for qualified immunity in his decision.
You can read the entire decision here: