The nationwide protests following the death of George Floyd in police custody have put new attention on the U.S. Supreme Court’s police and civil rights rulings, and criticisms by one justice in particular that those decisions too often shield law enforcement’s misconduct from accountability.

At the Supreme Court, Justice Sonia Sotomayor repeatedly has warned that the court’s “one-sided approach” to qualified immunity—more often protecting police—sends an “alarming signal” to law enforcement and the public.