After the assassination of george floyd, the 2020 protest movement forced many of us to take a long look in the mirror and ask ourselves, as Americans, are we doing everything we can to live up to our founding principles and ideals?
As a New York City Councilmember, I decided to explore ways to make police more accountable when an officer engages in misconduct. I knew from research, history, and common sense that police accountability actually improves public safety by cultivating police-community relationships and bolstering trust in law enforcement and the rule of law. .
When I examined the most serious impediments to police accountability, an obscure concept came up again and again: qualified immunity.
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qualified immunity it is a legal doctrine created by a court that says that public officials, such as police officers, can be protected from civil liability for even the most egregious misconduct. It means that a police officer can knowingly violate a person’s constitutional rights and invoke qualified Immunity, and the person whose rights were violated has no recourse in court. It is puzzling that this is the case, but it is true.
I am working to change qualified immunity.
I sponsored a bill, which The New York City Council approved, which provides the people of New York City with an empowering path to accountability. This measure profoundly limits qualifying immunity as a defense for police officers who violate a person’s basic Fourth Amendment rights, the rights against unreasonable searches and seizures, by establishing those same rights in New York City. Residents can now cite those local rights when filing a lawsuit if those rights are violated. And any city or state in the US can pass their own version of this bill and assert these rights in their own jurisdictions.
The passage of this bill sent a powerful message: Police officers who abuse their authority will no longer be able to walk into the courtroom and say, “The plaintiff has no right to bring me here because I am immune.” Rather, the victim finally gets a chance to have her day in court and seek the justice she deserves.
Congress has failed to pass the Justice Law in George Floyd Police at the federal level. Now is the time to states take steps to protect their residents. In 2020, Colorado ended qualified immunity. In 2021, California and New Mexico took similar steps to bolster accountability. As a result, their communities are safer. This year, states like Maryland, New York, Vermont and Washington have bills ready to lead the fight against police brutality.
Using solutions:Colorado took a revolutionary step to reform the police. This is how we did it.
Accountability is essential to building trust between communities and the police. Removing qualified immunity creates a system of accountability and fairness that protects our most fundamental rights – the rights enshrined in our Constitution and Bill of Rights. These are the rights that have built and sustained our democracy.
Ending qualified immunity is nonpartisan
Reforming qualified immunity is not anti-police. Legislation such as mine is not meant to be vindictive. This is not about bankrupting officers. It’s about defending public safety, justice, and the Constitution, and it’s something that people across the ideological spectrum have endorsed. In fact, the libertarian think tank Cato Institute has been instrumental in leading the charge across the country for qualified immunity reform, doing “the conservative case against qualified immunity.”
Now that we have limited qualified immunity in New York City, it’s time for our state legislature to cross the finish line and repeal the doctrine statewide, making New York safer for everyone.
Opposite point of view:Police recruitment was already difficult. Attacks on qualified immunity make things worse.
Stephen Levin is a former member of the New York City Council for the 33rd Ward in Brooklyn.
This column is part of a series by the USA TODAY Opinion team that examines the topic of qualified immunity. The project is made possible in part by a stand together grant. Stand Together does not provide editorial input.
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George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism