Can a police officer be charged with despotism?
<p>Can a US police officer be charged with despotism?</p>
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<p>Note: In Germany I heard it is possible</p>
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<p>To the best of my knowledge, there is no crime under US law known as &quot;despotism&quot;. However, many of the actions that might be called &quot;despotism&quot; are crimes, civil violations, or possibly violations of police regulations.  &quot;use of excessive force&quot;, &quot;false arrest&quot;, &quot;illegal detention&quot;,. and &quot;deprivation of civil rights&quot; might apply, as might various other charges or causes of suit.</p>
<p>In particular there is <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/1983" rel="nofollow noreferrer">42 U.S. Code § 1983. Civil action for deprivation of rights </a> often known simply as &quot;section 1983&quot;. This provides that:</p>
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<p>Every person who, under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, of any State or Territory or the District of Columbia, subjects, or causes to be subjected, any citizen of the United States or other person within the jurisdiction thereof to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws, shall be liable to the party injured in an action at law, suit in equity, or other proper proceeding for redress, except that in any action brought against a judicial officer for an act or omission taken in such officer’s judicial capacity, injunctive relief shall not be granted unless a declaratory decree was violated or declaratory relief was unavailable. ...</p>
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<p>This means that if a police officer or other government official takes action based on his or her authority as a police officer or government official that deprives someone of rights, the person deprived can sue the police officer or official in court, and collect damages directly and personally from the officer. This is limited by <em>qualified immunity</em>. That says that is a point of law has not been &quot;clearly established&quot; police can not be sued for violating it. The exact limits of when qualified immunity applies is a complex topic that has been the subject of many legal cases, quite a few decided by the US Supreme Court. The rules have changed over time. But what has not changed is that clear violations of constitutional and statutory rights by the police and others can give grounds for a federal lawsuit against the people who committed such violations.</p>
<p><a href="/questions/tagged/qualified-immunity" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;qualified-immunity&#39;" rel="tag">qualified-immunity</a>, <a href="/questions/tagged/section-1983" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;section-1983&#39;" rel="tag">section-1983</a></p>

united-states police local-authorities misconduct