No problem! Immunity (sovereign and official) is a weird, complex and interesting area in the law, and I’m always happy to talk about it. I’m glad you found this informative.

Basically, law enforcement is typically treated, under sovereign immunity law, as a governmental function that entails a “public duty” to citizens in general, and not a private duty to specific individuals. Even municipalities and counties, not usually entitled to the full range of sovereign immunity available to…

Well, the decision came from a state court, and the state is protected by the 11th Amendment and sovereign immunity (which can be waived, by the adoption of state tort claims acts or the purchase of liability insurance, but which is generally still maintained against suits for things like judicial bail decisions,…

Depends on state law. In many states, judges are not even elected but rather are appointed like federal judges. In that case, removal might require impeachment, or there might be some other oversight process, such as through a judicial conduct board. In states that do elect judges, sometimes recall initiatives are…

Judges have absolute immunity for judicial decisions within their jurisdiction. And jurisdiction in that context is interpreted extremely broadly. So basically, unless you have a probate judge making criminal adjudications or something similar (or a judge deliberately violating known legal rights in ways clearly…

Quick research shows that Pennsylvania allows consideration of dangerousness as well as flight risk in bail determinations, so this case does indeed look like it should have been a strong candidate for pretrial detention.

Learn how to shotgun a beer properly and you won’t be eaten by faceless extra-dimensional shadow monsters. I think we’ve all learned a lesson here.

“Because you’ve always been so LGBT-affirming, are you a safe place for them to open up about their sexuality?

Yeah, I don’t know much about Persky’s record in particular, but the reason I oppose electing judges is that it compromises their independence, and this kind of public pressure does the same thing. People assume that there is a widespread leniency in sentencing and that criminals are constantly getting away with…

Yeah, old rape law can perhaps best be viewed in the context that it was a duress defense against the charge of fornication or adultery, when women would actually be committing a crime by engaging in consensual sex with someone they weren’t married to. And like the typical duress defense, the actor’s free will must…

They don’t increase their discretion, exactly, but they do increase their power by reducing the discretion of the judge. Essentially, defendants have to choose between pleading their case to the judge (at sentencing, and at the guilt phase in a bench trial) and pleading their case to prosecutors in plea negotiations.…

Zephyr’s ideas are a breath of fresh air. These Republicans are just blowing into the wind. Hopefully a decisive loss will teach them to get out; I heard the election is going to be a breeze.

Maybe now Congress will finally pass a pay cut for legislators.

Yeah, Foucault was mentioned literally zero times, and I don’t even see the words hegemony or panopticism anywhere in there.

“The benefits they receive far outweigh any advantage the University receives from student-performed teaching or research,”

Damn, I am doing it wrong. I guess I will climb out of this spider box now, I thought I was just building character.

And in honor of its new, brave stance, the University of Chicago will be lighting some celebratory fireworks outside the bedroom windows of neighborhood veterans.

I absolutely agree that we should abolish the worst offenders, I just don’t agree that religion at large is such a worst offender. The Nazis were a horrific secular organization and ISIS is a horrific religious organization. Both should be destroyed, but that doesn’t mean we should destroy all religious associations…

How do you think I feel? I was your 1-year limited warranty, and you weren’t exactly doing either of us any favors coming across all desperate like that.

But religion didn’t really cause most of those atrocities, it just provided a convenient excuse. People will find any reason to mistreat, subjugate and abuse those who are different. Power dictates the result, religion is merely the rationale. And without that rationale, another would have been substituted.