Who supports ending qualified immunity?
Asked by: Dr. Buster Nikolaus IV | Last update: February 18, 2026Score: 5/5 (33 votes)
Supporters of ending qualified immunity include a broad coalition of civil rights groups (NAACP LDF, ACLU, BLM), progressive politicians (Markey, Pressley, Sanders, Warren), libertarian organizations (Institute for Justice, Cato Institute), and a significant portion of the public across party lines, who argue it shields police misconduct and lacks legal basis, while some conservative groups also support it for its conservative legal critiques.
Who supports qualified immunity?
The Supreme Court has offered multiple justifications for qualified immunity, including that it encourages government officials to “unflinching[ly] discharge . . . their duties” without worrying about being sued for actions a court has not yet held violate the constitution.
Are they getting rid of qualified immunity?
In June 2020, following the murder of George Floyd, the lawmakers introduced the Ending Qualified Immunity Act to eliminate the court-invented doctrine of qualified immunity that shields government officials from civil liability for misconduct.
How do we abolish qualified immunity?
The Supreme Court created qualified immunity out of whole-cloth less than four decades ago. It is up to the Supreme Court to get rid of it by simply overturning Harlow v. Fitzgerald. That said, if Congress wants to get rid of qualified immunity, it also has the power to do so.
What would happen if we ended qualified immunity?
Finally, eliminating qualified immunity would stop the stream of court decisions denying plaintiffs relief and sending the message that officers can violate people's rights with impunity, and that their rights do not matter.
Hank Johnson Supports Ending Qualified Immunity To Hold ‘Rogue’ Police Offices Accountable
Have any states abolished qualified immunity?
Colorado, New Mexico, and Montana have effectively abolished qualified immunity for state law claims, while Nevada's Supreme Court ruled against its application for state constitutional rights, and New York City ended it for city officers in local cases, allowing lawsuits for rights violations under state law where federal immunity would apply. These states created pathways for citizens to sue government officials, including police, for constitutional violations at the state level, bypassing the federal standard that often shields officers.
How do cops lose their qualified immunity?
Cops lose qualified immunity when their actions violate a "clearly established" constitutional right, meaning a reasonable officer would have known their conduct was illegal, often requiring a prior case with nearly identical facts, and they acted with deliberate indifference, bad faith, or used excessive force that a court finds unreasonable under the circumstances (e.g., shooting someone fleeing after the threat passed). A judge uses a two-part test: did they violate a constitutional right, and was that right clearly established?.
How to defeat qualified immunity?
Legal Strategies for Overcoming Qualified Immunity
Filing in state courts – Some states allow lawsuits under state constitutions, where qualified immunity may not be as strong a defense. Leveraging public pressure – High-profile cases and media attention can sometimes influence courts and lawmakers to act.
Does BLM want to abolish police?
We call for an end to the systemic racism that allows this culture of corruption to go unchecked and our lives to be taken. We call for a national defunding of police. We demand investment in our communities and the resources to ensure Black people not only survive, but thrive.
Is qualified immunity unconstitutional?
The Supreme Court ruled that the aides were entitled to “qualified immunity,” which meant they could not be held liable unless they had violated a “clearly established” constitutional right.
What is the proposal to end qualified immunity?
Introduced in House (04/25/2023) This bill eliminates the defense of qualified immunity in certain civil actions for deprivation of rights. Qualified immunity is a judicially created doctrine that protects government officials from being held personally liable for constitutional violations.
What is the public opinion on qualified immunity?
Majorities of Black (69%), Latino (69%), and White Americans (62%) support eliminating qualified immunity. However, there is a partisan divide. While majorities of Democrats (79%) and independents (64%) support this, a majority of Republicans (58%) oppose ending qualified immunity.
What is Trump's immunity ruling?
The Supreme Court's 2024 ruling in Trump v. United States granted former presidents broad criminal immunity for official acts, establishing absolute immunity for actions within core constitutional powers and presumptive immunity for others, but no immunity for private acts, sending the case back to lower courts to determine which actions fall into protected categories, significantly impacting prosecution of Trump's alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
Who invented qualified immunity?
In Pierson v. Ray (1967), the Supreme Court first "justified qualified immunity as a means of protecting government defendants from financial burdens when acting in good faith in legally murky areas.
What professions have qualified immunity?
Qualified immunity only applies to suits against government officials as individuals, not suits against the government for damages caused by the officials' actions. Although qualified immunity frequently appears in cases involving police officers, it also applies to most other executive branch officials.
Did Democrats support defund the police?
In the United States, despite its association with left-wing and Democratic Party policies, politicians from both the Democratic and Republican parties have opposed the concept, sometimes to refund the police. Republicans have sought to link Democrats to the movement during political campaigns.
Why are people against the BLM movement?
People oppose the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement for various reasons, including disagreements with its tactics (like protests disrupting traffic), concerns about its political affiliations (some view it as Marxist or divisive), misinterpretation of its core message (thinking "All Lives Matter" is exclusionary), or a belief that it downplays systemic racism, leading to counter-movements like "All Lives Matter" and "White Lives Matter" that claim to support equality for all but often challenge BLM's focus, while some critics say it unfairly blames white America or promotes a "reverse racism" narrative.
Does defund mean remove all funds?
At its core, to defund means to withdraw funding or financial support from an organization, program, or initiative. This action can be motivated by various reasons—ranging from calls for accountability to demands for reallocating resources toward more pressing needs.
How many states have gotten rid of qualified immunity?
Today, four states—Colorado, Montana, Nevada, and New Mexico—have completely banned police officers from using qualified immunity as a defense in state court.
What does it mean if a cop loses qualified immunity?
Qualified immunity shields police officers—including those who have engaged in excessive force—from even going to trial. Ending qualified immunity doesn't mean police would automatically be held liable for alleged excessive force. But it would mean that people who are harmed by police could get their day in court.
Do code enforcement officers have qualified immunity?
Like police officers, code enforcement officers have the legal defense of qualified immunity and, in general, cannot be sued. The exception is when a court has previously ruled that what you say they did was illegal. You may have better luck suing the local government that the code enforcement officer works for.
What state does not have qualified immunity?
New Mexico: The 2021 New Mexico Civil Rights Act eliminated qualified immunity as a defense in civil rights lawsuits brought under the New Mexico Constitution. This made New Mexico the second state in the U.S. to remove this legal shield, following Colorado.
Is qualified immunity going away?
Pressley teamed up with Sen. Ed Markey to create the Qualified Immunity Abolition Act of 2026, which would expand Pressley's fight to make federal cops answer for civil rights violations in court. The bill comes on the heels of an ICE agent's fatal shooting of Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother, in Minneapolis.
How to strip qualified immunity?
There are multiple pathways to end qualified immunity. The Supreme Court can revisit the doctrine and abolish or limit it. Congressional legislation can also abolish qualified immunity, as the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act aimed to do before it stalled in the U.S. Senate.