RELEASE: 89 Organizations to Senate: “Qualified Immunity Doctrine Must End Without Exception”
WASHINGTON – Today, Constitutional Accountability Center is releasing a letter on behalf of 89 organizations calling on the Senate to “end qualified immunity to ensure meaningful accountability measures in the Senate version of the Justice in Policing Act of 2021.”
Read the letter here: https://www.theusconstitution.org/testimony/cac-letter-urging-the-senate-to-end-qualified-immunity/
Key excerpts:
The Reconstruction-era Congress wrote 42 U.S.C. § 1983 to enforce the Fourteenth Amendment’s promise of liberty and equality by holding police and other state actors accountable for violating the constitutional rights of the public they swear to protect. The text of Section 1983 is as clear as can be: it makes officials acting under color of state law categorically liable for constitutional violations and provides no immunities from suit. Rather than heeding this text, the Supreme Court has interpreted Section 1983 to give officers sweeping immunity from suit, even when they engage in brutal conduct, disproportionately harming the marginalized communities the Fourteenth Amendment was meant to protect.
[T]he U.S. Supreme Court created from whole cloth the legal doctrine of qualified immunity, which shields government officials from civil liability when they violate people’s constitutional rights in all but the rarest cases, creating a sweeping defense that does not exist in the text of our laws...
Qualified immunity reaches further than the realm of policing and unfairly insulates from accountability a wide range of other government officials. This includes, but is not limited to, school officials, caseworkers, social workers, detention and correctional facility staffers, probation officers, and government employers….
Due to the immense harm that qualified immunity has caused, this judge-made doctrine must be ended across the board to ensure government accountability and encourage courts to play their historic role of redressing abuse of power, as Section 1983 intended. It should not be codified into law by removing, reforming, or modifying the immunity for some government actors but not for all.…
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Resources:
Letter on behalf of 89 organizations to Senate leaders, “End qualified immunity to ensure meaningful accountability measures in the Senate version of the Justice in Policing Act of 2021,” May 10, 2021: https://www.theusconstitution.org/testimony/cac-letter-urging-the-senate-to-end-qualified-immunity/
Qualified Immunity | Beyond Policing (CAC one-pager): https://www.theusconstitution.org/think_tank/qualified-immunity-beyond-policing/
CAC Narrative: “We Do Not Want To Be Hunted”: The Right To Be Secure and Our Constitutional Story of Race and Policing, David H. Gans, July 23, 2020: https://www.theusconstitution.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/We_Do_Not_Want_To_Be_Hunted.pdf (Published by the Columbia Journal of Race and Law, April 2021: https://journals.library.columbia.edu/index.php/cjrl/article/view/8230/4234)
List of letter signatories (in alphabetical order):
A Little Piece of Light
Active Advocate
African American Ministers In Action
Alliance for Justice
American Atheists
American Civil Liberties Union
American Friends Service Committee
Americans for Democratic Action (ADA)
Amnesty International USA
Autistic Self Advocacy Network
BACC
Bend the Arc: Jewish Action
Black With No Chaser
Blacks in Law Enforcement of America
Center for Civilians in Conflict (CIVIC)
Center for Disability Rights
Center for LGBTQ Economic Advancement & Research (CLEAR)
Civil Rights Corps
Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd, U.S. Provinces
Constitutional Accountability Center
DC Democratic Caucus for Returning Citizens
Defending Rights & Dissent
Demand Justice
Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund
Drug Policy Alliance
Earthjustice
Equal Justice Society
Equity and Transformation
Ex-Incarcerated People Organizing (EXPO)
Faith Action Network – Washington State
Freedom From Religion Foundation
Friends Committee on National Legislation
Girls Inc.
Government Information Watch
Hispanic Federation
Human Rights Campaign
Human Rights Watch
Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project
Impact Fund
Innocence Project
Interfaith Action for Human Rights
Jewish Council for Public Affairs
Justice Action Center
Labor Council for Latin American Advancement
Lambda Legal
Law Enforcement Action Partnership
Lawyers for Good Government (L4GG)
LGBT Bar Association of New York
LivableStreets Alliance
Lovelace Consulting Services, Inc. (LCSI)
Mayers Strategic Solutions, LLC
Muslim Advocates
National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd
National Association of Social Workers
National Council of Churches
National Disability Rights Network (NDRN)
National Employment Law Project
National Equality Action Team (NEAT)
National Immigration Project
National Network for Immigrant & Refugee Rights
National Organization for Women
National Partnership for Women & Families
NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL
NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice
New Athens Creative, Inc.
Oasis Legal Services
Open Society Policy Center
People For the American Way
People’s Parity Project
Project On Government Oversight
Protect Democracy
Public Justice
Restore The Fourth
Sanctuary DMV
Southern Border Communities Coalition
Southern Coalition for Social Justice
SPLC Action Fund
Students for Sensible Drug Policy
The Black Police Experience
The Center for HIV Law and Policy
The Center for Popular Democracy
The Daniel Initiative
The Daniel Initiative S.E.T. Project
Ujima, Inc: The National Center on Violence Against Black Women
Unitarian Universalist Service Committee
Veracity Entertainment, LLC
Voices for Progress
Vote Huntsville
Wisconsin Transit Riders Alliance
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Constitutional Accountability Center is a think tank, public interest law firm, and action center dedicated to fulfilling the progressive promise of the Constitution’s text and history. Visit CAC’s website at www.theusconstitution.org.
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