Since the highly publicized deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, communities have grappled with how best to hold police officers who commit misconduct accountable and prevent them from engaging in future misconduct.
In addition to internal administrative discipline by police departments, police officers can be held accountable for misconduct through criminal liability, civil liability and decertification. In recent years, there has been substantial momentum to eliminate “qualified immunity” for police officers so that these officers can be held personally liable, usually as a result of being sued for monetary civil damages.
Qualified immunity is a judicial doctrine that shields government officials — such as police officers — from being found personally liable for violating a person’s rights. It was created to ensure that officials would not be hindered from taking quick action if necessary, that they wouldn’t be burdened with trivial litigation and that they would not have to use their own financial resources in civil cases after they had been found guilty of misconduct. Also, the heavy burden to prove that qualified immunity does not apply falls upon the aggrieved or their families.
