unlawful arrest
Wrongful police seizure
An unlawful arrest is detention by police or other authorities without proper legal justification—lacking probable cause, a valid warrant, or statutory authority.
The term appears in civil rights contexts and lawsuits against law enforcement: He sued the department for unlawful arrest after charges were dropped.
In some jurisdictions, citizens may legally resist an unlawful arrest, though this defense rarely succeeds in practice.
- arbitrary detentionConfinement lacking legal grounds
- constitutional rightsLegally protected individual freedoms
- habeas corpusWrit challenging lawful custody
- racial profilingLaw enforcement by skin color
- excessive forceUnwarranted severity in restraint
held without charge · police misconduct · bodycam footage · badge number · false imprisonment · compensation claims · civil lawsuits · Fourth Amendment · criminal defense · abuse of power · police state · human rights violations · civil liberties · qualified immunity · public accountability · judicial review · coercion · legal safeguards
- rights violationsillegal search, false imprisonment, coerced confession, unfair trial, double jeopardy
- captivity crimeskidnapping, abduction, false imprisonment, hostage-taking, human trafficking
- detentionjail, detention centers, captive, prison, detention orders
- political violenceassassination, targeted killing, insurrection, summary execution, state terror
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