After two years of waiting after oral arguments, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals issued a ruling on qualified immunity for a Waterbury, Connecticut police officer, deciding he wasn’t entitled to qualified immunity for violating the constitutionally protected rights of a gun owner.
The lawsuit stems from a November 12, 2018, encounter between Basel Soukaneh and Waterbury Police Officer Nicholas Andrzejewski. At approximately 8:43 p.m., Soukaneh pulled over his car to fix his mobile phone, which froze up. The phone was attached to the dash of his vehicle. Soukaneh turned on this dome light to see what he was doing.
And here's a video from William Kirk of Washington Gun Law about the case:
Well, can an officer, during a valid traffic stop, just pull you out of your car, handcuff you, stuff you in the back of his patrol car, and then search your entire vehicle? Would that ever really happen in America? Washington Gun Law President discusses all of that because could that happen in America, yes, it happens all the time. This time, the person pulled over, and then arrested for merely being in LAWFUL possession of a firearm, has decided to sue the officer. The officer believes that qualified immunity protects him. The trial court, and now the 2nd Circuit disagrees and believes that illegally arrested plaintiff does have a cause of action. The case is Soukaneh v. Andrzejewski, which was originally filed in the US District Court for Connecticut, but now has been affirmed by the 2nd Circuit. But today, we use this case as a very teachable moment so that you can arm yourself with education.
VIDEO HERE (14:10 minutes)
