Supreme Court Rejects Cases Testing Liability Shield for Police

The US Supreme Court refused to hear two cases testing the scope of a legal doctrine that shields police officers from being held liable when they kill someone on the job, drawing sharp dissents from Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

In the first case, the justices were asked if St. Louis, Missouri police officers who held a homeless man in custody face-down on the floor and pushed into his back until he died are entitled to qualified immunity.

The US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit ruled the city and police department couldn’t be held liable because Nicholas Gilbert didn’t have ...