Overview
- The Supreme Court issued a 6-3 unsigned opinion Monday that reversed the Second Circuit and granted Sgt. Jacob Zorn qualified immunity.
- The case arose from a 2015 sit-in at the Vermont Capitol where Zorn used a rear wristlock to lift protester Shela Linton after a warning, and she later alleged lasting injuries including PTSD.
- The majority said no prior decision clearly established that using a routine wristlock on a seated, resisting protester violates the Constitution.
- The opinion faulted the Second Circuit’s reliance on Amnesty America v. West Hartford as too general to strip an officer of immunity.
- Justice Sonia Sotomayor dissented with Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, arguing a jury could find excessive force and criticizing the summary reversal as turning qualified immunity into an absolute shield.