MINNEAPOLIS — The U.S. Supreme Court is being asked to consider a case out of rural Minnesota that has the potential to shield all government officials — not just police — from being sued for acts such as detaining citizens.
Attorneys for Central Specialties, an Alexandria-based road repair company, want the court to weigh in on a lawsuit brought in 2018 after a Mahnomen County highway engineer stopped trucks driven by the contracted firm's employees for more than three hours.
The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last year sided with the engineer, Jonathan Large, finding that his actions were protected under the 40-year-old qualified immunity doctrine. Attorneys from the Institute for Justice, a Virginia-based libertarian legal nonprofit representing Central Specialties, have instead argued that Large acted as a rogue government official and that his actions far exceeded his authority.
