Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett, left, speaks as Justice Sonia Sotomayor listens during a panel discussion at the winter meeting of the National Governors Association, Friday, Feb. 23, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Justice Sonia Sotomayor kicked off the week at the U.S. Supreme Court by lamenting that her conservative colleagues gave law enforcement "license to inflict gratuitous pain" on "nonviolent protesters" who refuse to leave government property after hours.
Among her multiple dissents early Monday, Sotomayor spoke out on the case of Shela Linton, a protester who joined a "sit-in" in 2015 at Vermont's capitol in favor of universal healthcare, only to be arrested for locking arms with fellow activists and trespassing inside the "legislative chamber" at night.
With the backing of Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson in dissent, Sotomayor said that the majority's decision to reverse the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was "plainly inconsistent" with the Fourth Amendment. By extending qualified immunity to Vermont State Police Sgt. Jacob Zorn for his actions in arresting Linton, SCOTUS sent a message to law enforcement — state or federal — that they'll have "an absolute shield" if they permanently injure "nonviolent protesters."
Zorn's use of a "rear wristlock" for "pain compliance" purposes left Linton with "permanent damage" even though she was "a nonviolent protestor who was peacefully demonstrating at a sit-in in the Vermont capitol," Sotomayor recounted. The 2nd Court of Appeals had concluded that Zorn was not entitled to qualified immunity from Linton's lawsuit, but the conservative majority on the Supreme Court determined otherwise.
"Because the Second Circuit failed to identify a case where an officer taking similar actions in similar circumstances 'was held to have violated' the Constitution, Zorn was entitled to qualified immunity. We grant his petition for writ of certiorari and reverse the judgment of the Second Circuit," the per curiam decision said.
Qualified immunity is a legal doctrine that shields government officials from civil liability for actions performed within their official capacity, unless those actions violate "clearly established" constitutional rights under circuit precedent. And here, Sotomayor stated that existing 2nd Circuit precedent put Zorn on notice that "using a rear wristlock against a nonviolent protestor would violate the protestor's constitutional rights" through excessive force.
Sotomayor observed that the Supreme Court's reversal of the 2nd Circuit, where she sat as a judge for a decade, immunized alleged facts like Zorn whispering to Linton that "she should have called her legislator" as the sergeant "applied pressure to Linton's wrist and lifted her upward," leaving her with "permanent damage to her left wrist and shoulder," PTSD, depression, and anxiety.
"The Second Circuit correctly held that summary judgment must be denied because a jury could find that Zorn violated Linton's clearly established Fourth Amendment rights," the liberal justice dissented, warning the majority's quickness to reverse a qualified immunity grant could amount to a trend.
"The majority today gives officers license to inflict gratuitous pain on a nonviolent protestor even where there is no threat to officer safety or any other reason to do so. That is plainly inconsistent with the Fourth Amendment's fundamental guarantee that officers may only use 'the amount of force that is necessary' under the circumstances," the justice concluded.
Linton, the co-founder of the Root Social Justice Center in Vermont, had alleged that Zorn "targeted and intentionally assaulted" her "because I am black."
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