Attorney Richard Sinapi was recently quoted in RI Lawyers Weekly regarding a recent 1st Circuit Court of Appeal’s qualified immunity decision in the matter of Est. of Rahim by Rahim v. Doe, 51 F.4th 402 (1st Cir. 2022). Speaking to the issue of qualified immunity and its impact on the right to basic discovery (the pre-trial process where litigants gather and exchange potential evidence in preparation for trial) ordinarily available in lawsuits, Attorney Sinapi noted:
“Only in cases involving claims that law enforcement has violated the civil rights of its citizenry does our civil justice system permit a one-sided contest, where even limited discovery is denied and the untested factual contentions of the state are accepted as true,” Sinapi said. “Denying even limited discovery, particularly when the aggrieved party was killed as a consequence of the challenged conduct, is not a procedure designed to determine the truth, but rather to rubber stamp the challenged conduct of law enforcement. To that extent and for that reason, this decision is truly frightening and hopefully a wake-up call to finally abolish qualified immunity and a process more akin to the Star Chamber than a system of civil justice dedicated to a search for the truth and a just result.”
The entire article can be read here. The 1st Circuit decision can be found here.
Sinapi Law Associates, Ltd. has a proven track record over a period of nearly 40 years of protecting and vindicating the civil rights and liberties of individuals. You can learn more about our civil rights practice here. If you believe your civil rights may have been violated, you can submit a request for a free case evaluation here or call us at 401-739-9690.
