Qualified immunity

A federal court dismissed nearly all of the claims in a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the FBI spying on Muslim Americans, ruling that the government could invoke the “state secrets” privilege to avoid almost all litigation.

The Supreme Court ruled on Monday that a Colorado man who claimed he was retaliated against for expressing his political opposition toward then Vice President Dick Cheney cannot sue U.S. Secret Service agents who believed they had probable cause to arrest him.

A federal appeals court ruled for the first time that the right to privacy over death images is protected under the U.S. Constitution.

A federal lawsuit filed early this week by New York City Council members, Occupy protesters, and journalists asks the court to appoint an independent federal official to monitor the city police department's practices regarding First Amendment rights.

The suit, which names as defendants Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, and a number of police officers, alleging that the department has engaged in "systematic violations" of their First Amendment rights.

A Massachusetts attorney arrested for using his cellphone to record police officers while they arrested a man in public received a $170,000 settlement for damages and legal fees from the City of Boston on Monday.

A U.S. District Court judge ruled that a civil lawsuit can continue against a Louisiana police chief and four officers accused of violating a former officer's constitutional rights. The court declined to dismiss the civil rights case against the officers who arrested the police veteran for criticizing the chief in email messages to a local newspaper.