Deck 23: Legal Liabilities

Question 1

The police may be liable under:

A) Departmental law only
B) Federal law only
C) State law only
D) Both federal and state law

Answer 1

Both federal and state law

Question 2

Which of the following cannot be sued under "Section 1983"?

A) Municipalities
B) Municipal and county law enforcement officers
C) State officials acting in their official capacity
D) Everyone can be sued under "Section 1983"

Answer 2

State officials acting in their official capacity

Question 3

Which of the following is not a sub classification of police liability?

A) Constitutional liabilities
B) Criminal liabilities
C) Administrative liabilities
D) Civil liabilities

Answer 3

Constitutional liabilities

Question 4

What type of cases are easier to win than criminal cases, could result in a monetary award, and do not need the intervention of the prosecutor's office to file the case?

A) Federal
B) Administrative
C) Constitutional
D) Civil

Question 5

Police officers enjoy absolute immunity from ________ when testifying in court, even if the testimony is perjured.

A) Civil liability
B) Criminal liability
C) Both civil and criminal liability
D) Neither civil or criminal liability

Question 6

Inadequate police training may serve as the basis for municipal liability under §1983, but only if the failure to train amounts to ________ to the right of persons with whom the police come into contact.

A) "Reasonable concern"
B) "Deliberate indifference"
C) "Probable concern"
D) "Reasonable indifference"

Question 7

________ officials, acting in their official capacity, may not be sued under federal law in state court.

A) Civil
B) Contract
C) State
D) Independent

Question 8

One of the elements of a § 1983 case is that there must have been a violation of a ________.

A) State right
B) Constitutional or a federally protected right
C) Public right
D) Political right

Question 9

Which of the following Supreme Court decisions relieves some pressure from counties for liability when hiring police officers?

A) Hafer v. Melo
B) United States v. Leon
C) Schneckcloth v. Bustamonte
D) Board of the County Commissioners of Bryan County Oklahoma v. Brown

Question 10

In high-speed vehicle pursuit cases that result in fatal injuries, liability in § 1983 cases ensues only if the conduct of the officer ________.

A) Amounts to "deliberate indifference"
B) Amounts to "reckless indifference"
C) "Shocks the conscience"
D) Was inappropriate

Question 11

________ under federal law provides that the officer is not held liable unless he or she violated a clearly established constitutional rule of which a reasonable person would have known.

A) Absolute immunity
B) Qualified immunity
C) Limited immunity
D) Unlimited immunity

Question 12

Being sued is an occupational hazard in policing.

Question 13

Most lawsuits against the police do succeed.

Question 14

The law and case law on police liability are complex and constantly evolving.

Question 15

A municipality has immunity to liability under § 1983 flowing from violations of an individual's constitutional rights.

Question 16

Every injury caused by police officers leads to municipal liability for failure to train.

Question 17

Plaintiffs prefer to sue officials in their public (official) capacity because of the "deep pockets" theory.

Question 18

Public officials cannot be sued as private individuals.

Question 19

Failure to train about workplace hazards could be the basis for a lawsuit as a violation of due process rights, but only if such omission is "arbitrary or conscience-shocking."

Question 20

Title 42 U.S.C. § 1983 is a federal law that provides an individual the right to sue the government for civil right violations.