An Immune System

Breonna Taylor (1993-2020)

A 26-year-old Black woman killed in March 2020 by Louisville, Kentucky police officers who used a no-knock warrant to enter her home shortly after midnight, while she slept. The search warrant was granted based on information suggesting that drug packages were being delivered to Taylor’s home. An ex-boyfriend who no longer lived there was suspected of selling them. The officers did not identify themselves upon entry, and Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, believed they were intruders. Shots were fired by the police officers and Walker. Taylor was shot eight times and died as a result of her injuries. No drugs were found in the apartment.

George Floyd (1973-2020)

A Black man who was killed by Minneapolis police officers in May 2020. The officers were in the process of arresting Floyd on suspicion of using a counterfeit $20 bill. During the arrest, Officer Derek Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck for approximately eight minutes, during which time Floyd repeated that he was unable to breathe. Floyd’s death at the hands of the Minneapolis police led to massive protests against police brutality throughout the United States as well as in 60 other countries.

Brown v. Board of Education

A Supreme Court case heard by the Warren Court which ruled that “separate is inherently unequal.” This 1954 ruling declared that segregated schools were unconstitutional. The decision in this court case outlawed segregation in public schools by ordering that schools needed to integrate “with all deliberate speed.” Although the decision in this court case was a victory for the Civil Rights Movement, attempts to prevent racial integration continued, and many school districts remain segregated in practice if not by law.

Budget

A financial plan for an organization, project, or individual that accounts for the money that will be allocated and the costs that need to be paid within a defined period of time. In the podcast, it is noted that city governments create a budget that sets aside millions of dollars each year to pay for settlements to deal with lawsuits when police officers are accused of wrongdoing.

Plaintiff

A person who brings a legal action, or lawsuit. Within the context of the podcast, these are people who bring civil lawsuits against police departments for the alleged wrongdoing of police officers. If the lawsuit against an entire police department is successful, the monetary award is much greater than if the suit had been brought against an individual police officer. Additionally, it is more likely that a lawsuit against a department would be successful, because individual officers are protected by qualified immunity. One result of suing a police department rather than an individual is that it is the taxpayers of the community who pay for the damages awarded in the lawsuit, since police departments are funded with tax dollars.

Libertarian

A person who subscribes to the doctrine of free will and emphasizes the importance of the individual while minimizing the value of the government. Although libertarians are on the right, the podcast points out that some libertarians agree with Democrats, who are liberal, that qualified immunity should be ended.

Good faith

A phrase that refers to actions that are said to be done for the benefit of others, with no ulterior motives. In the podcast, this refers to the idea that if an official acts in “good faith,” no matter what the outcome of their action is and even if they are acting with incompetence, they are not accountable for their actions.

“Abolish the police”

A proposal to eliminate police forces as a means to improve public safety. This proposal was among the ideas to reform policing in America that emerged from public outrage over the killing of Black people by police officers. This particular proposal does not necessarily mean that no police would exist; rather, in some formulations, it would eliminate problematic police departments and rebuild them with new officers who would implement safer, less racially-biased policing. One path to implementation of this proposal is the idea of defunding the police. Defunding the police would reallocate some of the funds that are provided to police departments by their cities toward social services like mental health assistance, addiction treatment, and anti-homelessness programs. This alternative approach is suggested because 90% of all calls to the police in America are for assistance with non-violent encounters. By providing additional social services, advocates believed the social problems at the root of many calls to police would be reduced.

Doctrine

A set of beliefs. Within the context of the podcast, it is referring to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’s desire to review how the set of beliefs that allow for qualified immunity is applied.

Bankrupt (bankruptcy)

A situation in which a person is unable to pay their debts and loses their financial assets. Within the context of the podcast, it is suggested that there are times when qualified immunity has value, such as allowing police officers to make difficult split-second decisions without worrying that they will be sued and lose all of their personal assets as a result of a civil lawsuit.

Ku Klux Klan

A terrorist organization that emerged during Reconstruction. This terrorist organization intimidated, beat, and murdered freedmen to maintain the caste system that had existed in the South prior to the Civil War.

Supreme Court appointment

Although the Supreme Court is supposed to be non-partisan, or not aligned to one political party or the other, it is important to understand that each justice is nominated to the Supreme Court by a president who selected the judge in hopes that their legal decisions will align with the values and principles supported by the president. Thus, justices appointed by Republican presidents are often considered to be conservative, while those appointed by Democratic presidents are considered to be liberal. Supreme Court appointments are lifetime appointments, which means presidents who fill multiple Supreme Court vacancies can have a significant impact on the political balance of the court for years to come, although sometimes a justice’s ideological stances evolve over their time on the court.

Relief

Any kind of benefit, often financial, awarded by the court to a person who filed a lawsuit. In the context of the podcast, the point is made that it is almost impossible for people who have been wronged to bring a successful lawsuit against the police because of qualified immunity; as a result, victims and their families receive little benefit from the justice system.

Barry Goldwater (1909–1988)

Arizona senator and Republican candidate for president in 1964. This man was considered an ultra-conservative member of the Republican Party. His frustration with members of the Republican Party’s leadership motivated him to seek the presidency in 1964. Although he was not able to defeat Democratic candidate Lyndon Johnson, Goldwater’s attacks against crime led Johnson to declare a war on crime.

Police in schools

Certain school districts receive funding to cover the costs of stationing police officers in schools. While some studies show that a police presence increases the safety of students, other studies find that safety is not improved. In addition, having police in schools has increased the number of juveniles arrested; African American children have been disproportionately arrested in these schools. Some argue that school police thus play a role in the school to prison pipeline. Finally, because school funds are allocated to pay for police officers, they are not allocated for nurses or resources to support the mental health of students. In the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd in May 2020, some school districts have discontinued the practice of stationing police officers in schools. Other districts are considering their removal.

Civil lawsuit

Civil lawsuits are legal cases that are brought by plaintiffs who believe that they have been wronged by another person or institution and are seeking financial compensation as a result of the wrongdoing. In contrast, a criminal lawsuit is brought on behalf of the government and alleges that crime has taken place which has threatened or harmed the welfare of society.

No-knock warrant

Documented permission granted by a judge to law enforcement to enter private property without informing the property owner. In the context of the podcast, a no-knock warrant was used when police entered Breonna Taylor’s home. Because the police had not identified themselves, Taylor’s boyfriend, a licensed gun owner according to Taylor’s family’s lawyers, believed that the home was being broken into by intruders; he exchanged gunfire with the police officers. This gunfight led to Taylor being shot eight times and dying from the wounds.

War on Crime

Due to Republican presidential candidate Barry Goldwater’s attacks on crime during the 1964 campaign, Democratic president Lyndon Johnson feared being viewed as weak on crime. As a result, he declared this program which saw the creation of a 340-page report that included over 200 recommendations to improve law enforcement. Although the goal of this initiative was to improve law enforcement, there are concerns that instead it led to the targeting of low-income African American communities by police officers and the weakening of some social assistance programs.

Egregious

Extraordinarily bad. In the podcast, an example is discussed that illustrates how the concept of qualified immunity has resulted in an extremely limited ability for citizens to achieve a legal victory when suing police officers.

Voting Rights Act

Law enacted by President Johnson forbidding racial discrimination in voting such as the poll tax or the literacy test. After the passage of this law in 1965, the number of Black voters in the South increased dramatically, and they began to support liberal Democrats in elections, leading to a partisan realignment.

Qualified immunity

Legal principle that protects public officials from being sued even if they have violated another person’s constitutional rights. This principle states that public officials are held to a lower standard when determining if they have violated a person’s rights. Police officers can only be held accountable for violating rights that are “clearly established” in existing case law, meaning essentially that they can only be held accountable if there is a previous case with a very similar set of facts in which an officer was held accountable. In the words of a Supreme Court decision, all public officials except for “the plainly incompetent or those who knowingly violate the law,” are protected by this principle. For this reason, it is difficult to win a civil lawsuit against police officers.

Liable (liability)

Legally responsible. In the context of the podcast, it is argued that it is difficult to hold police officers legally responsible for acts of wrongdoing due to the concept of qualified immunity.

LBJ (1908–1973)

Nickname for President Lyndon Baines Johnson. One of his signature programs was the Great Society, an ambitious legislative agenda meant to eliminate racial injustice and poverty. He signed into law the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968.

Black Lives Matter

Social movement founded in 2013 by Alicia Garza, Opal Tometi, and Patrisse Cullors to protest police brutality and racially motivated violence against Black people. The immediate event that led to this movement was the acquittal of George Zimmerman, who had shot and killed an unarmed 17-year-old boy named Travyon Martin. Zimmerman’s lawyer convinced the jury to arrive at a “not guilty” verdict by claiming that Zimmerman had been confronted by Martin and the killing was in self-defense. Due to this miscarriage of justice, the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter began trending on social media, and people who supported this movement began demonstrating to protect the lives of African Americans from racial violence.

Conservative

Term for individuals who generally wish to avoid making changes in government or structure of the United States. In contrast, liberal individuals seek to make changes to the government or structure of the United States in order to make social progress and to make the county more equal. In the context of the podcast, it is noted how unexpected it is that Clarence Thomas, the most conservative member of the Supreme Court, was interested in reviewing qualified immunity and none of the liberal justices were interested in considering changing the policy.

Constitutional authority

The ability of the federal government to take specific actions granted by the Constitution. In the context of the podcast, it refers to President Lyndon Johnson’s belief that the federal government can and should provide help to state and local governments to reduce crime.

White supremacy

The erroneous belief that people with white skin are superior to people who do not have white skin.

Civil Rights Act of 1871

This legislation is also referred to as the Ku Klux Klan Act. It was designed to eliminate extralegal violence and ensure that the rights extended to Black Americans by the 14th and 15th Amendments would be upheld. This act allowed federal military forces to act as a police force to protect against racist and terroristic activities by members of groups like the Ku Klux Klan.

“Bad apples” defense

This phrase originates from the figure of speech “a few bad apples spoil the barrel,” which describes how rot spreads between apples. In a social context, it is meant to convey that having a small group that acts poorly can lead to the bad behavior of others within a larger group. As a defense for the larger group, this concept has been used to claim that while there are indeed a few police officers who act unacceptably, the majority of policing is done by “good apples.” The argument is that if the “bad apples” are removed, the problems with policing will cease to exist. This defense is challenged by advocates of abolishing or defunding the police who believe that the broader system of policing is the problem, and the only way to solve the problem is to address the institution of policing rather than the individual police officers.

“Clearly established”

This phrase refers to the concept that a prior standard, or precedent, must exist in the legal system if public officials or public employees are expected to act in a certain acceptable manner. If an official or employee has not acted in an acceptable manner, but a prior legal standard has not been identified, that individual may be protected from civil lawsuits due to qualified immunity.

Indicted

To be officially charged with a crime. In the context of the podcast, it is pointed out that when police officers are involved in behaviors in which the public deems unacceptable—most notably police brutality—they are rarely charged for the offense.

Redress

To right a wrong. In the context of the podcast, the term refers to an alternative method of holding police accountable through a civil lawsuit (seeking financial damages) instead of or in addition to seeking justice in a criminal trial. This would be necessary if criminal charges were not filed against an officer involved in a police brutality incident or if such charges were dismissed, providing a form of legal justice that would still hold the officer accountable.