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The Case for Punishing ‘Police Bystanders’

The Crime Report

For the sake of civilian safety, police must intervene if they see misconduct by colleagues,, according to a forthcoming paper in the George Washington Law Review. Kaufman writes that Congress and state legislatures should enact criminal laws mandating a “duty to intervene” in their colleagues’ misuse of force.

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Police Suggest Possible Charges for Those Who Filmed Rape on Train

JonathanTurley

Generally there is no duty to rescue or to call police under the common law. For example, Washington state allows for the charging of a misdemeanor. The law covers violent crimes, sexual assault, and assault of a child. In torts, there is no duty to rescue rule. Cf: Restatement, Torts, § 322. French, 104 Pa.

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Too Clever By Half: Why Public Nuisance is Again at the Heart of a Public Health Debate

JonathanTurley

Public nuisance was originally addressed in England by criminal laws against such offenses as obstructing “the King’s highways.” Yet the torts system has an elaborate and well-functioning system of product liability. Mr. Turley is a law professor at George Washington University.

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The long conference’s relists

SCOTUSBlog

Ferguson involves a First Amendment challenge to Washington state’s law prohibiting “conversion therapy,” the practice of seeking to change a gay or transgender person’s sexual orientation or gender identity through counseling. King sued them under the Federal Tort Claims Act and under Bivens v. ” (relisted after the Sept.

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TURKEY TORTS (2020)

JonathanTurley

In celebration of Thanksgiving, I give you our annual Turkey Torts of civil and criminal cases that add liability to libations on this special day (with past cases at the bottom). Indeed, the torts and crimes recorded this year seem painfully reminiscent of this loathsome year. For example, in Weirum v.

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Chopped: Will Seattle Officials Now Claim Immunity From Lawsuits After Opposing Such Defenses For Police Officers?

JonathanTurley

Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University. If Seattle gets chopped in court, it will be due not to a failure of government but to a failure to govern. You can find his updates online @JonathanTurley.

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Kai Cenat is a Fool, Not a Felon

JonathanTurley

Torts has long struggled with the vicarious liability of promoters and celebrities for accidents. However, the use of criminal charges, in my view, is neither needed nor wise. Tort law and civil fines force such celebrities and companies to be accountable for the creation of dangerous or “tumultuous” circumstances.

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