Featured FEN Organizations
April 29th, 2010
In my previous post on the reply brief filed by former Valdosta State University student Hayden Barnes' attorneys in support of their motion for summary judgment, I examined the brief's discussion of the violation of Hayden's First Amendment rights. While there is much more to discuss as well, this post discusses the brief's argument regarding why each defendant should be denied qualified immunity and found personally liable for their treatment of Hayden. The brief argues:
Apart from Zaccari, other defendants offer essentially a Nuremberg defense—that they were "just following orders." However, each of the defendants participated in the deliberations that led to Barnes' withdrawal and each could have taken steps within the range of their responsibilities to change the course of events. It would be one thing if these defendants were asserting qualified immunity based on a good faith belief that they were supporting appropriate and lawful actions by the University President. But that is not what happened, since each of the defendants now claims that they knew Zaccari's actions were wrong and probably unconstitutional. In this situation, where the defendants "knew or should have known that their [failure to act was] violating the plaintiffs' constitutional rights, . . . ...