They're Going to Kill This Man | Season 2, Ep. 1
Podcast (bound-by-oath): Play in new window | Download
In 2014, two members of a joint state-federal fugitive task force beat up an innocent college student, James King, after mistaking him for a suspect who looked nothing like him. The officers had James prosecuted for resisting arrest, which a jury quickly threw out. Then, in 2015, he sued the officers for violating his rights. In 2020, James’ suit reached the U.S. Supreme Court, where the question the Court faced was a narrow one: Can he even sue the officers in the first place?
On Season 2 of Bound By Oath, we’ll explore why it is so hard to sue government officials who violate the Constitution.
Click here for transcript.
Click for Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, and Stitcher.
Resources
James Pfander & Jonathan Hunt, Public Wrongs and Private Bills: Indemnification and Government Accountability in the Early Republic
Recent Episodes
Trust But Verify | Season 3, Ep. 12
In 1973, federal narcotics agents raided a pair of homes in Collinsville, Illinois by mistake. They didn’t find any drugs, but they did terrorize two […]
Listen NowEverything You Eat, Drink, and Wear | Season 3, Ep. 11
Government officials must obtain a warrant before forcibly entering a home (absent consent or an emergency). That rule goes back to the Founding. But in […]
Listen NowSpecial Weapons and Tactics | Season 3, Ep. 10
In 2020, a police SWAT team blew up Vicki Baker’s house after a fugitive barricaded himself inside. On this episode, we ask: who pays the […]
Listen NowPunishment Without Crime | Season 3, Ep. 9
Civil forfeiture is a civil rights nightmare, allowing police and prosecutors to seize billions of dollars’ worth of property annually—cash, cars, houses, bank accounts, and […]
Listen Now