![]() ![]() ![]() Added to this shield against personal liability is the essentially blanket immunity government agencies enjoy via the 11th Amendment. The idea of qualified immunity is that a person acting under color of law is not personally liable for violating someone’s civil rights unless that person knew or should have known they were violating clearly established law. To make matters worse, the Court crafted the concept of qualified immunity to shield individuals from personal liability. It took the Court over 40 years to even recognize that the due process clause was applicable to state and local governments. Supreme Court, however, was reluctant to acknowledge the sea change the 14th Amendment represented. The amendment was duly ratified, and Congress enacted the Civil Rights Act of 1873, which encoded the amendment in Chapter 42 The conclusion of Congress, and the state legislatures that would ratify the amendment, was that without new constitutional guarantees, state and local governments in the South would not respect the lives or fundamental rights of Black citizens. In the summer of 1866, for example, policemen were instrumental in leading organized attacks on Blacks that left hundreds dead. ![]() The authors of the amendment reported to Congress that across the South orchestrated campaigns of violence and intimidation were being carried out against freed Blacks by White police officers. The necessity of guarantees outlined in the due process clause had become all too apparent in the Reconstruction South. The 14th Amendment was one of several constitutional changes made in the wake of the Civil War. Constitution provides that “no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.” The intent of the amendment was to restrain government actors from arbitrary or capricious acts of violence, imprisonment, or confiscation. The due process clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Share: Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share on G+ Share with email ![]()
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