In this case, NCLA is particularly disturbed that the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has willfully opted out of deciding a matter as simple—but gravely consequential— as whether it is unconstitutional for a police officer to use the cover of a search warrant to steal from a suspect. By choosing not to decide the issue, the panel granted immunity not only to the Fresno police, but to all police officers throughout the Ninth Circuit who are accused of theft in the future, and who now may continue to assert that a citizen’s constitutional protections from theft are not “clearly established.”
Thus, NCLA’s principal interest in this litigation is to vindicate the § 1983 statutory scheme Congress enacted to ensure that states cannot deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.