We reported last year on how the sheriff of Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana, relying on the state’s old and constitutionally infirm criminal-libel law, had raided the house and seized the computers of a local man suspected of being responsible for a gadfly blog that had criticized the sheriff and other community figures. Now, unsurprisingly, a federal judge is allowing a lawsuit to go forward seeking damages for the search: “Some qualified immunity cases are hard. This case is not one of them.” [Eugene Volokh]
2 Comments
Too bad the sheriff can’t be imprisoned in addition to paying out of his own pocket.
Kind of makes you wonder if the sheriff did this thinking he would be immune. A large fine in addition to a little time in his own pokey may get the word out they’re not above the law just because they enforce it.