Unintended Consequences

 

I Didn't Mean A Word I Said

 I didn't mean a word I said
And if I hurt you, I'm sorry
I didn't mean to lose my head
And if I made you cry, I'm sorry

Sometimes we are the cause things to happen, even if that was not our intention. 

Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren killed George Floyd.  How can that be if Justice Warren died years before George Floyd died?   Chief Justice Warren backed qualified sovereign immunity which the police officers who killed George Floyd used to rationalize their actions.  

What is qualified sovereign immunity?  If a sovereign takes an action, that action is considered to be immune from prosecution.  For example, a claim of executive privilege.  

So can sovereign immunity be claimed if that person was carrying acting on behalf of the sovereign?  This isn't just an idle question.  It is the basis for a US Supreme Court decision in Peirson v Ray in 1967 when it was ruled that “[a] policeman's lot is not so unhappy that he must choose between being charged with dereliction of duty if he does not arrest when he had probable cause, and being mulcted in damages if he does.” Chief Justice Warren  voted in the majority in that decision. 

Qualified sovereign immunity is being used by police officers in their defense against murder in the George Floyd case.  It is entirely possible that the court will agree that they were covered by qualified sovereign immunity, in which case the decision of Justice Warren in 1967 led to the death of George Floyd in 2020.   The fact that Justice Warren didn’t intend George Floyd’s death does not mean that he did not in some way cause George Floyd’s death.  

It is also probable that the court will find that George Floyd's actions by taking drugs led to his death, and that death could not have been foreseen by the police officers not guilty due to reasonable doubt. If the court finds that the police officers are not guilty, then if riots following the Rodney King verdict are any indication, God help us all.