Lawyer Talk podcast welcomes your questions and answers

>> Steve Palmer: All right, it is that Time again. Lawyer Talk off the record on the air.

>> Steve Palmer: Another q and a. And by the way, folks, thank you.

>> Steve Palmer: Very much for engaging.

>> Steve Palmer: The questions are awesome. We got another one today that we're going to answer. But before I do that, if you've got your own question, go to lawyertalkpodcast.com and you can see right there an easy way to submit a question. Or if you just have a topic.

>> Steve Palmer: You want me to cover, uh, I'll get to that, too. Or I'll do my best to get to it.

Steve Daschle: Government employees have immunity against lawsuits over prosecutions

Uh, anyway, this week it comes from Gavin. He says, hey, Steve, why are Das.

>> Steve Palmer: Never sued when they bring frivolous lawsuits against people? There seems to be no recompense for the government employees.

>> Steve Palmer: Uh, I think what he means to say is against the government employees, despite.

>> Steve Palmer: Trials ruining someone's life and costing them their life savings and home or job, is there any state in the union where a member of the public can countersue for damages if they win a case? My recent legal experience leaves me with.

>> Steve Palmer: A sour taste that the system is.

>> Steve Palmer: Set up in favor of the government.

>> Steve Palmer: You are absolutely correct. The system seems all the Time to.

>> Steve Palmer: Be set up in favor of the government. After all, the government created the system. In theory, we have this bill of.

>> Steve Palmer: Rights that was designed to protect us, the people, we the people from the government that we created. But when you're charged with a crime.

>> Steve Palmer: And you didn't do it or you've.

>> Steve Palmer: Got an overzealous prosecutor, it certainly doesn't feel like that. So with that, I can certainly sympathize. Now, to your question, uh, what you're really asking is, can I sue a prosecutor, a daeinhead? If this prosecutor brings a case against.

>> Steve Palmer: Me, that is bogus, and the answer is probably not.

>> Steve Palmer: I've dealt with this Time and Time again. I have a trial upstairs in my law practice, and, um, my client is acquitted, found not guilty. And they say, all right, now, how do I get my money back?

>> Steve Palmer: How do I get my time back?

>> Steve Palmer: How can I. Can I sue these sobs for what they did to me?

>> Steve Palmer: And almost invariably, the answer is no.

>> Steve Palmer: Here's why. Uh, in section 1983, uh, there is this idea that we can sue government officials for civil rights violations. So, uh, generally speaking, that's when you hear about lawsuits against police officers who are, uh, police brutality or this is, well, in the news lately. Uh, it all comes under section 1983. And most government officials have something called qualified immunity. That would be your police officers or, uh, maybe your local government actors, some.

>> Steve Palmer: Um, government officials enjoy even more immunity.

>> Steve Palmer: It's called absolute immunity.

>> Steve Palmer: And those would be the kind of.

>> Steve Palmer: People that you want to sue. Those would be the judges, they would be the prosecutors, they would be the legislators, the people we vote for.

>> Steve Palmer: Now, why is that? Well, look, I don't necessarily agree with.

>> Steve Palmer: It, but it goes all the way back to some civil rights legislation that, uh, later the US supreme Court says, all right, we're going to protect prosecutors. Unless they're doing something that actively, actively and intentionally violates, uh, known and obvious.

>> Steve Palmer: Constitutional rights, we're going to protect them.

>> Steve Palmer: Because we think prosecutors have a tough job to do.

>> Steve Palmer: And if they get sort of inundated.

>> Steve Palmer: If they get flooded with lawsuits, uh, from everybody they prosecute, they're never gonna be able to do their job. Well, maybe there's some semblance of truth to that. I hate that kind of policy argument, generally speaking, because basically what they're saying is, all right, prosecutors have a job to do, and if they don't do it, well, part of their job is.

>> Steve Palmer: To deal with those things.

>> Steve Palmer: They are public officials. Nonetheless, uh, you can sort of understand.

>> Steve Palmer: Now, that's the bad news. The good news is it seems that.

>> Steve Palmer: The US Supreme Court might be willing, uh, to back down on this a little or back off on this a little bit.

>> Steve Palmer: There was a recent case that sort.

>> Steve Palmer: Of came up through the system out of the 6th Circuit, which is Michigan, Kentucky, Ohio, I think Tennessee. Um, anyway, there was a case where somebody was wrongfully convicted or prosecuted for.

>> Steve Palmer: A crime that was later dismissed.

>> Steve Palmer: And, uh, there's an allegation. The prosecutor told a witness to destroy some exculpatory evidence, evidence that helped the defense. Um, the 6th Circuit ruled against this, uh, litigant or this defendant because, uh, the prosecutor had absolute, uh, immunity. And it went up to the US.

>> Steve Palmer: Supreme Court and they denied cert.

>> Steve Palmer: So, you know, it sounds bad.

>> Steve Palmer: They didn't.

>> Steve Palmer: They didn't want to review it, but they.

>> Steve Palmer: They didn't just say cert denied. They wrote an opinion, and Justice Sotomayor wrote the opinion.

>> Steve Palmer: A liberal judge, uh, wrote the opinion.

>> Steve Palmer: Sort of saying, look, we're not going to grant cert here, and there may be some other reasons why we're not going to grant cert or review this case.

>> Steve Palmer: Um, but I am going to say.

>> Steve Palmer: This, this seems awful hokey. Um, and if these allegations are true.

>> Steve Palmer: This is horrid and we're not necessarily cool with it.

Dismantle absolute immunity doctrine for prosecutors who step outside the law

Um, and I think what the court.

>> Steve Palmer: Is doing is telegraphing that it may be willing in the near future to.

>> Steve Palmer: Dismantle some of this absolute immunity doctrine and look closer at prosecutors who step outside the law.

>> Steve Palmer: Even so, there are some exceptions.

>> Steve Palmer: If a police officer, if a prosecutor.

>> Steve Palmer: Starts to work in conjunction with the police and give legal advice to police.

>> Steve Palmer: They don't necessarily get absolute immunity. They're going to be demoted to qualified immunity. Um, um. And that's different than actually going to court, doing their job, prosecuting.

>> Steve Palmer: And.

>> Steve Palmer: And there's some nuance to this that.

>> Steve Palmer: Goes far beyond the scope of this question.

>> Steve Palmer: But generally speaking, I will say this. I feel for you, man. Getting prosecuted for a crime you didn't commit is expensive. It takes everything you got, man. I mean, it. It draws up sides within the family, within the community, within your friends. Um, um, you fight, fight, fight, and it's all over. And you feel like, all right, now, what did I win? Other than I start? I'm right back where I started, except I've lost all this money, all this time, all my resources, and not to.

>> Steve Palmer: Mention the emotional tax that it takes on you.

>> Steve Palmer: So, look, I feel for you, but I don't have any great answer that you can just sue prosecutors. Uh, it's complicated, like most stuff in law.

>> Steve Palmer: Uh, anyway, I hope this answers your question. If you've got. If anybody else has other questions along these lines or any lines, it's easy.

>> Steve Palmer: Just go to lawyertalkpodcast.com, shoot me a note, and I will address it right.

>> Steve Palmer: Here where we are coming at you week in, week out, off the record, on the air, at least until now.