Is there a price to pay for false arrest?

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So let's assume you get stopped by a LEO. He detains you because you were "violating some kinda law" with your OC'd weapon. You kindly explain to him that according to RCW 9.41.050 and .300 that you are, in fact, NOT violating any law. He refuses to look in his quick reference book to determine that you are correct and still takes you in. Has he done something illegal by not verifying, given the proper references, that you are not violating a law and is he then falsely arresting you? And what actions will be taken against that individual if this were to happen. All hypothetical.

Also, I'm leaving Saturday to fly my little helicopter from Fort Bragg, NC all the way back here to Fort Lewis, WA. Five days of 8 hour flight days, or at least that is the plan. We are thinking more like 10 to 15 days to get across due to weather. We are all fairly certain the weather will turn "bad" in Reno or Las Vegas and we will have to spend the night. Anyway, I looked at all the states we will be in regarding carry laws. What a royal pain in the ass! Why can't there be a federally issued carry permit that is good in ALL states. I will succumb to any background check, interview, blood test, or paternity test they want to give me. There has got to be a better way to do this!

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TRAKATAK wrote:

So let's assume you get stopped by a LEO. He detains you because you were "violating some kinda law" with your OC'd weapon. You kindly explain to him that according to RCW 9.41.050 and .300 that you are, in fact, NOT violating any law. He refuses to look in his quick reference book to determine that you are correct and still takes you in. Has he done something illegal by not verifying, given the proper references, that you are not violating a law and is he then falsely arresting you? And what actions will be taken against that individual if this were to happen. All hypothetical.

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Well hypothetically speaking, call a lawyer and do it quick. Many of the persons rights have been violated and the LEO could/wouldlikely lose his job over this type of situation. After that, if the person felt so inclined it sounds like a open and shut win in a law suit.

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Yeah I kinda think that unless you file a lawsuit that nothing would happen to the guy. They'd just cut you free and say sorry.

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Police liability depends on several factors. Here are a couple excerpts.


In the United States and other jurisdictions, police officers and other government officials are shielded from false arrest lawsuits through a process known as qualified immunity. This doctrine protects such officials from liability when engaged in discretionary actions such as arrests of suspects. However, the officer's actions must still not violate "clearly established law," or this protection is void. This includes executing an arrest warrant against the wrong person.

Qualified immunity is a doctrine in U.S. federal law that arises in cases brought against state officials under 42 U.S.C Section 1983 and against federal officials under Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents, 403 U.S. 388 (1971). Qualified immunity shields government officials from liability for the violation of an individual's federal constitutional rights. This grant of immunity is available to state or federal employees performing discretionary functions where their actions, even if later found to be unlawful, did not violate "clearly established law." The defense of qualified immunity was created by the U.S. Supreme Court, replacing a court's inquiry into a defendant's subjective state of mind with an inquiry into the objective reasonableness of the contested action. A government agent's liability in a federal civil rights lawsuit now no longer turns upon whether the defendant acted with "malice," but on whether a hypothetical reasonable person in the defendant's position would have known that his actions violated clearly established law.


In regards to your second question;
There is a carry permit issued that is good in all 50 states, unfortunately it only applies to Police.