Police crusade to jail law prof over video release reflects 'culture of impunity'

[Nevilledog]

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Gina Barton
@writerbarton
A federal judge has blocked an effort by police and prosecutors in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to prosecute a law professor who shared video of police misconduct.https://buff.ly/3Khksrn
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https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/police-crusade-jail-law-prof-over-video-release-reflects-culture-impunity-2022-01-13/

The Baton Rouge Police Department and other city officials took an embarrassing loss last Friday when a federal judge stopped their efforts to jail a law professor who shared video of police misconduct, ruling that it was a bad-faith attempt to harass and retaliate.

The brazen move to weaponize the legal system against a law professor for exposing police wrongdoing illustrates the need for much stronger disincentives against overreach by police and state attorneys.

University of Virginia law professor Thomas Frampton filed a federal lawsuit seeking a rare injunction of an ongoing state court proceeding in which the city sought to hold him in contempt for publishing video of his clients’ arrest.

“It is a little surprising that they would come after a privileged, white law professor, but I think it reflects how deeply entrenched the culture of impunity is within the organization,” Frampton told me. “And that’s something that goes to the top, including the lawyers who represent and enable these bad officers.”

*snip*

[msongs]

1. who'd be surprised if a criminal fought to block release of a video of his/her crime? nt

[Nevilledog]

3. Most criminals don't have the power to jail people.

[crickets]

2. "indemnification for law enforcement"

Taxpayers get socked with the costs and consequences in cases of unconstitutional policing or prosecution. Right up there with qualified immunity as an institutional problem that needs to be fixed.