Warrington Sebree

The Project

Warrington’s (he/him/his) project will focus on appealing decisions where law enforcement or correctional officers are deemed immune from suit after committing unlawful acts against low-income people of color.

Throughout urban cities, communities of color, and prisons, thousands of marginalized people have been victimized by law enforcement and corrections officers. Yet all too often individuals whose rights have been violated are unable to receive justice because the individual officers are protected by the doctrine of qualified immunity, in which they will not be held accountable unless there was a prior case on sufficiently close facts. The goal is to represent individuals in appeals from trial court decisions in which an officer was granted or denied qualified immunity. Warrington will work to overturn decisions where an officer was deemed immune from suit, and will also defend clients against an officer appealing their denial of immunity, so that the client’s case can proceed.

Warrington’s lived experience as a Black man in America drives his passion to eradicate the injustices of the criminal legal system.

Fellowship Plans

Warrington will represent impoverished people of color in their appeals involving the grant or denial of qualified immunity to an officer, to defend their legal rights to be free from retaliatory arrests, excessive force, and warrantless searches. He will identify prisons known for having poor conditions to appeal qualified immunity grants to correctional officers. Additionally, he will collaborate with the MacArthur Justice Center to facilitate listening sessions, host Know Your Rights programs, and develop training materials for qualified immunity appeals.