The Price of an Invalid Law
When the City of Whatcom arrested a man under an unconstitutional bicycle ordinance, the Supreme Court ruled he couldn't sue the city for damages.
Olympia, Dec. 14.—An important question, never before presented to the Supreme Court of this state and on which the court declares the authorities are bewildering in number and lack in harmony, has been decided in the case of George E. Simpson, appellant, vs. the city of Whatcom, respondent. Simpson was arrested under the provisions of a bicycle license ordinance which was afterwards declared invalid. He then brought suit for damages against the city. The demurrer was sustained and the case was dismissed. The controlling question as viewed by the Supreme Court was whether the officer making the arrest acted as the agent of the city. The court draws a distinction between the corporate duties and the public duties of a police officer. It holds with other authorities that police officers are public officers appointed at the command of the legislature and the city cannot be held liable. It further declares that if, for every miscarriage of a prosecution by reason of some unconstitutional provision in the law, criminals who were guilty on the merits could get redress, there would be a timidity about enforcing laws that would tend to paralyze the administration of justice. The lower court is affirmed.
“If, for every miscarriage of a prosecution by reason of some unconstitutional provision in the law, criminals who were guilty on the merits could get redress, there would be a timidity about enforcing laws that would tend to paralyze the administration of justice.”
This 1903 ruling highlights the long-standing legal doctrine of qualified immunity and the limited liability of municipalities for bad-faith or unconstitutional enforcement. Today, city governments still frequently rely on these protections to avoid damages when municipal codes are struck down, leaving citizens with little recourse for 'false arrests' rooted in faulty legislation.
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