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Trump Judge Excuses Police Supervisor from Liability

A close up of a police officer's belt; the officer has his hand on his gun

“Confirmed Judges, Confirmed Fears” is a blog series documenting the harmful impact of President Trump’s judges on Americans’ rights and liberties. It includes judges nominated in both his first and second terms.

 

Judge Michael Brennan, who was nominated by Donald Trump to the Seventh Circuit court of appeals,  wrote a 2-1 decision affirming a lower court ruling that granted qualified immunity to a police supervisor who failed to intervene when a police officer used excessive force against a man arrested on New Year’s Eve. Biden judge Candace Jackson-Akiwumi partly dissented and maintained that a jury should have had the opportunity to decide the claim against the supervisor. The January 2025 decision was in Stewardson v Titus.

 

What happened in this case? 

 

Police arrested Blake Stewardson for driving under the influence on New Year’s Eve. They took him to an Indiana jail where officers “repeatedly subjected him to the use of force.” 

 

Stewardson subsequently sued for damages against several officers, including Christopher Titus and Cameron Biggs. A jury found Titus liable for use of excessive force, such as slamming Stewardson against the wall and pushing him to the floor that caused injury. The trial court, however, granted summary judgment to Biggs, who was functioning in a supervisory capacity, claiming that he should get qualified immunity from any liability. Stewardson appealed the case against Biggs to the Seventh Circuit.

 

 

How did Judge Brennan and the Seventh Circuit majority rule and why is it harmful?

 

Judge Brennan wrote a 2-1 decision that affirmed the ruling excusing Biggs from liability on qualified immunity grounds. In particular, he agreed with the lower court that Biggs should not be liable as a matter of law for failing to intervene to try to stop Titus after he conducted a harmful leg sweep against Stewardson and re-entered the cell and used a hip toss to send him to the floor.

 

Judge Jackson-Akiwumi dissented from this part of the decision and wrote that the issue of whether Biggs was liable should have gone to the jury. As she explained, a “reasonable jury” could have found that Biggs “knew of the constitutional violation” by Titus, that Biggs was “capable of intervening,” and was “reckless or deliberately indifferent in failing to do so.” This was consistent with long-established precedent, she continued, that a supervisory police officer “may not ignore the duty imposed by his office and fail to stop other officers who summarily punish a third person.”

 

Judge Brennan’s decision eliminated Blake Stewardson’s ability to get justice for the misconduct of Officer Biggs.  It also undermines the ability of people in the future to seek justice against police officials who fail to intervene against officers who use excessive force against others, especially in the Seventh Circuit, which includes Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin.

 

This ruling illustrates the importance of our federal courts to health, welfare and justice and the significance of having fair-minded judges on the federal bench.