The last few years have seen increased attention to the ways that qualified immunity and other legal doctrines and structural features of the criminal justice system protect law enforcement officers who violate citizens' rights, often even those who have engaged in very egregious abuses. UCLA law Professor Joanna Schwartz is probably the nation's leading expert on this subject and her new book Shielded: How the Police Became Untouchable is must reading for those interested in the topic. Here is the publisher's description:
