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Psychiatrists Who Okay Homicidal Cops Return to Duty Not Entitled to Qualified Immunity

A police officer abused the plaintiff. At the time, he had a remarkable record of bizarre and violent misconduct, including holding several police officers hostage with a shotgun after assaulting his wife (after which he was committed to a mental hospital and diagnosed as schizophrenic), and shooting two unarmed civilians, one fatally, charges for which were pending at the time he abused the plaintiff.

At 6:
When a supervisor seeks qualified immunity in a section 1983 action, the "clearly established" prong of the qualified immunity inquiry is satisfied when (1) the subordinate's actions violated a clearly established constitutional right, and (2) it was clearly established that a supervisory would be liable for constitutional violations perpetrated by his subordinates in that context.

The psychiatrists who approved the officer's return to work while felony homicide charges were pending against him, shortly after he had threatened to kill another police officer, conducting their examination in a cursory fashion that violated their own procedures, could be held liable for the officer's actions and were not entitled to qualified immunity. See: Camilo-Robles v. Hoyos, 151 F.3d 1 (1st Cir. 1998).

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Related legal case

Camilo-Robles v. Hoyos