Beyond Qualified Immunity: How Police Avoid Accountability

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In this episode, we sit down with Joanna C. Schwartz, UCLA law professor and author of Shielded: How the Police Became Untouchable, to unpack the hidden systems that protect police from consequences.

We go beyond the headlines about qualified immunity to explore what really blocks accountability:

Why most police misconduct lawsuits fail before trial

How courts, police departments, and legal rules work together to “shield” officers

The surprising truth about who actually p...