Joanna Schwartz
@jcschwartzprof.bsky.social
Honorable Harry Pregerson Professor of Law, UCLA. Civil rights, police accountability, civil procedure. Author of Shielded: How the Police Became Untouchable (2023). Learn more at: joannaschwartz.net
Police officers almost never pay settlements & judgments against them, but are denied indemnification more often than payout data suggests. This great @themarshallproject.org story describes two recent cases & here's my new draft article examining this phenomenon 👇
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
November 1, 2025 at 4:38 PM
Police officers almost never pay settlements & judgments against them, but are denied indemnification more often than payout data suggests. This great @themarshallproject.org story describes two recent cases & here's my new draft article examining this phenomenon 👇
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
I'm thrilled to announce that I've been named The Honorable Harry Pregerson Professor of Law at @law.ucla.edu. Clerking for and knowing HP was inspiring beyond words & I'm honored to get to carry his name.
For some thoughts I shared about HP last November: www.joannaschwartz.net/a-few-though...
For some thoughts I shared about HP last November: www.joannaschwartz.net/a-few-though...
September 12, 2025 at 8:36 PM
I'm thrilled to announce that I've been named The Honorable Harry Pregerson Professor of Law at @law.ucla.edu. Clerking for and knowing HP was inspiring beyond words & I'm honored to get to carry his name.
For some thoughts I shared about HP last November: www.joannaschwartz.net/a-few-though...
For some thoughts I shared about HP last November: www.joannaschwartz.net/a-few-though...
I highly recommend reading James Stone's "The Prison Discovery Crisis." Terrifically insightful, beautifully written, and the product of a lot of important work. @yalelawjournal.bsky.social
www.yalelawjournal.org/pdf/134.8.St...
www.yalelawjournal.org/pdf/134.8.St...
August 24, 2025 at 4:43 PM
I highly recommend reading James Stone's "The Prison Discovery Crisis." Terrifically insightful, beautifully written, and the product of a lot of important work. @yalelawjournal.bsky.social
www.yalelawjournal.org/pdf/134.8.St...
www.yalelawjournal.org/pdf/134.8.St...
I've been thinking a lot about the role litigation plays in the protection of constitutional rights because of, well, obvious reasons. So I wrote this article. It's critically important-now more than ever-to articulate & appreciate what suing the government can do.
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
July 22, 2025 at 5:58 PM
I've been thinking a lot about the role litigation plays in the protection of constitutional rights because of, well, obvious reasons. So I wrote this article. It's critically important-now more than ever-to articulate & appreciate what suing the government can do.
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
IMPORTANT STUDY👇💥
Courts often rely on the Force Science Institute when adjudicating police use-of-force suits. Turns out, FSI's research "lacks the scientific rigor required to reliably inform court proceedings, evidence-based policing, or police policy and training."
Daubert challenge, anyone?
Courts often rely on the Force Science Institute when adjudicating police use-of-force suits. Turns out, FSI's research "lacks the scientific rigor required to reliably inform court proceedings, evidence-based policing, or police policy and training."
Daubert challenge, anyone?
July 7, 2025 at 9:55 PM
IMPORTANT STUDY👇💥
Courts often rely on the Force Science Institute when adjudicating police use-of-force suits. Turns out, FSI's research "lacks the scientific rigor required to reliably inform court proceedings, evidence-based policing, or police policy and training."
Daubert challenge, anyone?
Courts often rely on the Force Science Institute when adjudicating police use-of-force suits. Turns out, FSI's research "lacks the scientific rigor required to reliably inform court proceedings, evidence-based policing, or police policy and training."
Daubert challenge, anyone?
There will now be 10,000 new ICE agents & 100,000 new detention beds--and few safeguards protecting people from constitutional violations by the feds.
Time for states to pass laws allowing people to sue fed agents. Read about it these "converse-1983" statutes here: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Time for states to pass laws allowing people to sue fed agents. Read about it these "converse-1983" statutes here: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
July 3, 2025 at 8:15 PM
There will now be 10,000 new ICE agents & 100,000 new detention beds--and few safeguards protecting people from constitutional violations by the feds.
Time for states to pass laws allowing people to sue fed agents. Read about it these "converse-1983" statutes here: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Time for states to pass laws allowing people to sue fed agents. Read about it these "converse-1983" statutes here: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
It appears the Marines are short of JAG Officers right now.
June 11, 2025 at 1:48 AM
It appears the Marines are short of JAG Officers right now.
In addition to the argument, I have an appendix that sets out how dozens of law enforcement agencies across the country use - and more often ignore - information from lawsuits filed against them. (Here's two pages of the appendix - there are another 16...)
May 29, 2025 at 8:00 PM
In addition to the argument, I have an appendix that sets out how dozens of law enforcement agencies across the country use - and more often ignore - information from lawsuits filed against them. (Here's two pages of the appendix - there are another 16...)
I've got a new Essay out in @columlrev.bsky.social: MONELL'S UNTAPPED POTENTIAL. In it, I set out an overlooked argument for municipal liability-a claim for failure to supervise based on police departments' inattention to lawsuit allegations & information.🧵1/4 columbialawreview.org/wp-content/u...
May 29, 2025 at 8:00 PM
I've got a new Essay out in @columlrev.bsky.social: MONELL'S UNTAPPED POTENTIAL. In it, I set out an overlooked argument for municipal liability-a claim for failure to supervise based on police departments' inattention to lawsuit allegations & information.🧵1/4 columbialawreview.org/wp-content/u...
Police killings have risen each year since George Floyd's murder & the key finding to explore is that police killings have dropped 15% in Bluer states & risen 23% in Redder States since 2020, with the highest rates of police killings in the most conservative areas. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/24/u....
May 25, 2025 at 7:21 PM
Police killings have risen each year since George Floyd's murder & the key finding to explore is that police killings have dropped 15% in Bluer states & risen 23% in Redder States since 2020, with the highest rates of police killings in the most conservative areas. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/24/u....
What better way to spend a Saturday?! It’s really terrific…and terrifically frustrating and terrifically funny and terrifically timely.
May 17, 2025 at 8:42 PM
What better way to spend a Saturday?! It’s really terrific…and terrifically frustrating and terrifically funny and terrifically timely.
Too true. For more proof, check out bit.ly/Shieldedbook
May 5, 2025 at 3:24 PM
Too true. For more proof, check out bit.ly/Shieldedbook
Every year, when I teach civil rights litigation, my students are confronted with & confront me questions about what civil rights suits can actually accomplish. This essay is my answer. It's a very early draft & I'd welcome your suggestions, additions & stories.
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
March 21, 2025 at 10:45 PM
Every year, when I teach civil rights litigation, my students are confronted with & confront me questions about what civil rights suits can actually accomplish. This essay is my answer. It's a very early draft & I'd welcome your suggestions, additions & stories.
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Thanks for flagging! Happy to see it.
March 19, 2025 at 12:26 AM
Thanks for flagging! Happy to see it.
Judge Carnes argues it would be "grossly unfair" to expect officers to apply the same medical judgment as would doctors and nurses. Yet he expects those same officers to parse holdings and dicta and assess what's abrogated and what remains among circuit decisions spanning several decades.
January 4, 2025 at 9:42 PM
Judge Carnes argues it would be "grossly unfair" to expect officers to apply the same medical judgment as would doctors and nurses. Yet he expects those same officers to parse holdings and dicta and assess what's abrogated and what remains among circuit decisions spanning several decades.
Third, Judge Carnes not only expects that officers read court decisions-including decisions from 7 years in the future-but also that they can distinguish between a decision's holding and dicta, and can tell whether a decision has been abrogated (even when that's a subject on which judges disagree).
January 4, 2025 at 9:42 PM
Third, Judge Carnes not only expects that officers read court decisions-including decisions from 7 years in the future-but also that they can distinguish between a decision's holding and dicta, and can tell whether a decision has been abrogated (even when that's a subject on which judges disagree).
He argues that qualified immunity is intended to put officers on notice of the illegality of their conduct, and they couldn't be put on notice by imagining how judges might have decided those pre-Wade decisions post Wade.
January 4, 2025 at 9:42 PM
He argues that qualified immunity is intended to put officers on notice of the illegality of their conduct, and they couldn't be put on notice by imagining how judges might have decided those pre-Wade decisions post Wade.
Judge Carnes's concurrence takes the dissent to task for citing cases that predate Wade, a July 2024 11th cir deliberate indifference decision, chastising him for violating "Judicial Process 101" by imagining how those courts would have decided those cases after Wade.
January 4, 2025 at 9:42 PM
Judge Carnes's concurrence takes the dissent to task for citing cases that predate Wade, a July 2024 11th cir deliberate indifference decision, chastising him for violating "Judicial Process 101" by imagining how those courts would have decided those cases after Wade.
Time will tell whether I am getting the smackdown or doing the smacking.
January 1, 2025 at 5:09 PM
Time will tell whether I am getting the smackdown or doing the smacking.
Here's the message that I shared with my law students on November 6, inspired by the great Judge Harry Pregerson...https://www.joannaschwartz.net/a-few-thoughts-on-november-6-2024
November 12, 2024 at 12:30 AM
Here's the message that I shared with my law students on November 6, inspired by the great Judge Harry Pregerson...https://www.joannaschwartz.net/a-few-thoughts-on-november-6-2024
Over the next 4 years, any steps forward on police accountability/transparency will be at the state & local levels. If you're interested in thinking about what role you can play, sign up for this book club sponsored by Institute for Justice: cophttps://instituteforjustice.quorum.us/campaign/75060/
November 11, 2024 at 11:18 PM
Over the next 4 years, any steps forward on police accountability/transparency will be at the state & local levels. If you're interested in thinking about what role you can play, sign up for this book club sponsored by Institute for Justice: cophttps://instituteforjustice.quorum.us/campaign/75060/
Anyone interested in qualified immunity must pay close attention to New Mexico, which passed an act effectively ending qi in 2021. New Mexico L. Rev. held a terrific symposium about the statute, and the symposium issue (with my keynote) is out now digitalrepository.unm.edu/nmlr/. Also...
May 29, 2024 at 4:04 PM
Anyone interested in qualified immunity must pay close attention to New Mexico, which passed an act effectively ending qi in 2021. New Mexico L. Rev. held a terrific symposium about the statute, and the symposium issue (with my keynote) is out now digitalrepository.unm.edu/nmlr/. Also...
Hey Baltimore! I'm coming to your fair city on Monday, March 4. RSVP if you can join us for this conversation! (The poster says it's just for MEJC members, but I've confirmed there's room for you, too.)
February 27, 2024 at 5:09 PM
Hey Baltimore! I'm coming to your fair city on Monday, March 4. RSVP if you can join us for this conversation! (The poster says it's just for MEJC members, but I've confirmed there's room for you, too.)