after you read this consider qualified immunity and the thin blue line as its currently manifest and tell us why we should support that policy;

Martinsburg, WV — In 2019, one of the most disturbing videos we’ve ever reported on involving the savage beating of a handcuffed 16-year-old boy was released. Though the incident happened in November of 2018, authorities refused to release it until later because the officer responsible for the most egregious abuse was indicted. Sadly, however, all these steps to hold the officers accountable were in vain.

For his role in the beating, officer Michael Kennedy, 29, of Morgantown, was charged with one count of deprivation of rights under color of law after being accused of using force so excessive that it resulted in severe bodily injury of the 16-year-old. However, a federal judge acquitted him and he and his co-conspirator in the beating of the child, Derek Walker, were reinstated and given back their jobs.

Kennedy was facing up to 10 years incarceration and a fine of up to $250,000. However, thanks to a severely flowed system, he will face nothing. The family’s only option after the cops were let off with no consequences was civil action. But thanks to qualified immunity, this is no longer an option either.

The West Virginia State Supreme Court dismissed the family’s lawsuit this week, with Chief Justice Evan Jenkins saying the teen failed to prove that state police should not be granted immunity from prosecution.

The AP reports, in his dissent, Justice William R. Wooton accused the majority of favoring form over substance in ordering the claims dismissed based on technical issues.

According to the now-useless indictment filed in federal court, Kennedy, “while acting under color of law, physically assaulted J.H., a person known to the Grand Jury, during his arrest, and thereby willfully deprived J.H. of the right, secured and protected by the Constitution and laws of the United States, to be free from unreasonable seizures, which includes the right to be free from the use of unreasonable force by one acting under color of law. As a result of the defendant’s actions, J.H. suffered bodily injury.”.....read and watch more......