Another Krazy decision from the Kalifornia 9th circuit (courtesy of the IJ Short Circuit blog):
Fresno, Calif. police seize cash pursuant to a search warrant, give property owners an inventory sheet stating they seized $50k. Allegation: The cops actually seized $276k, stole the difference. Ninth Circuit: It isn’t clearly established that cops can’t steal things they’ve seized with a search warrant, so they get qualified immunity.
I think it’s time for the Supreme Court to review this concept. When an act is on its face clearly illegal, the police should not be able to assert “qualified immunity”.
Here’s a primer on qualified immunity.