Progressives Fight To Keep Congress From Watering Down George Floyd Reform Legislation
Lawmakers' letter aims at fighting to end 'qualified immunity'
A group of House Democrats are fighting hard to maintain a provision in the George Floyd police reform legislation aimed at ending “qualified immunity” for police officers and other government officials.
“Qualified immunity” aims to shield police and other government officials — but many believe that “qualified immunity” has become an “impunity” which even shields police and officials in cases of actual wrongdoing.
Reps. Cori Bush of Missouri and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts led the effort to send the letter to congressional leadership urging them to maintain and strengthen the provision to eliminate qualified immunity as negotiations for the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act continue.
“[W]e are concerned by recent discussions that the provision ending qualified immunity for local, state, and federal law enforcement may be removed in order to strike a bipartisan deal in the Senate,” the lawmakers wrote in their letter. “Given that police violence, as a weapon of structural racism, continues to have devastating and deadly consequences for Black and brown lives across our country, we strongly urge you to not only maintain but strengthen the provision eliminating qualified immunity as negotiations in the Senate continue. Congress has a historic opportunity to make substantial strides in affirming the rights of people in our country, particularly Black and brown people for whom encounters with law enforcement are routinely violent and deadly.”
Some 150 years ago, Congress enacted Section 1983 to enforce the 14th Amendment and ensure that individuals could go to court to redress constitutional violations committed by state and local governments and their agents. The modern Supreme Court has all but eliminated this vital civil rights tool by inventing the doctrine of qualified immunity, which in practice makes it nearly impossible for people to receive justice when harmed by governmental actors such as police, according to opponents of qualified immunity.
The issue of police reform has taken on heightened national significance in the year since former Minneapolis, Minn, police officer Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd, a Black man, out in front of a crowd on a Minneapolis street corner.
In March, Pressley reintroduced H.R. 1470, the Ending Qualified Immunity Act, which would eliminate this immunity for law enforcement and public officials and restore the ability for Americans to seek recourse for violations of their constitutionally protected rights. Consistent with the proposal outlined in Rep. Pressley’s bill, the members are urging that any legislation negotiated on policing reform eliminate qualified immunity in its totality and restore the original intent of section 1983.
“As negotiations continue, know this: there can be no true justice in America if we cannot save lives, just like there can be no true accountability in America if we do not eliminate qualified immunity,” the members continued in their letter. “Our nation is hurting. Our communities are hurting. Black and brown people who bear the brunt of police violence are hurting. Enacting the reforms included in the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act is not only long-overdue, but a matter of responsible policymaking. It is essential to our work in preventing the onslaught of police violence that has robbed so many in our communities of their loved ones. Maintaining and strengthening the provision that would eliminate qualified immunity once and for all, would put us on a path towards true accountability and help end the systemic and systematic harm that has long been perpetuated by American policing.”
The letter is co-signed by: Reps Mondaire Jones (NY), Rashida Tlaib (Mich), Jan Schakowsky (Ill), Ilhan Omar (Minn), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY), Bonnie Watson Coleman(NJ), Jamaal Bowman (NY), and Pramila Jayapal (Wash).
Click to download a copy of the Text of Letter (PDF)