Can cities be sued for the riots?

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JimG

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Can the residents of Seattle whose property and businesses were destroyed, vandalized, or shut down in June, when the city for three weeks allowed and approved of the “autonomous zone,” now sue the city? Two such lawsuits have in fact already been filed in federal court; and in one of them, seventeen different persons and businesses are seeking direct compensation from the city for actual losses suffered.

 
ThinkingSapien said:
One can sue anyone for anything.
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The question, as I think implied by the typical use of “sue,” is whether such a suit can succeed. Further, I think the article is asking whether such as suit is even allowed to proceed. You know, sovereign and qualified immunity and all that stuff.

But this complaint is a section 1983 complaint. And given the state of qualified immunity, I think this will be dismissed under that doctrine as there being no “clearly established law” that requires cities to prevent “autonomous zones” from existing. It’s ridiculous, but listen to a few IFJ podcasts, and you’ll see how often it happens.
 
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Cities can be sued for civil rights violations, certainly. However if someone is seeking damages due to negligence, most cities have ‘sovereign immunity’, that is, they can only be sued for matters which under the law they allow themselves to be sued, like potholes.
 
At any rate, we know these riots cost Americans lots of tax dollars and anxiety.
Negative political advertising. :-1:t2: :-1:t6: 👎 :-1:t4: :-1:t5:
 
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