By Tom Cotton
Wednesday, October 27, 2021
Qualified immunity is essential to effective and
diligent policing. It shields good police officers from bankruptcy while still
subjecting individual bad actors to personal financial repercussions. Any
effort to abolish or significantly curtail this indispensable protection is a
veiled attempt to defund, defame, and disarm the police in the midst of
the worst violent-crime wave in a generation.
Qualified immunity safeguards police officers from
personal lawsuits, unless they engage in behavior that they reasonably should
have known violated a citizen’s rights. This protects officers from malicious
lawsuits that would otherwise financially cripple them and hollow out
departments.
Shielding civil servants from vindictive personal
lawsuits is a common practice. Most government employees enjoy the same or
similar protections. Park rangers, DMV clerks, judges, sanitation workers, and
elected officials are all granted some level of immunity — despite the fact
that none of them have to make nearly as many split-second and life-changing
decisions as police officers.
Contrary to the misinformed and disingenuous arguments of
critics, qualified immunity does not elevate police officers above the law, nor
does it make it impossible to sue an officer for violating your rights. It is,
by definition, “qualified,” limited, and conditional. As the Supreme Court held
in 1986, it does not protect “the plainly incompetent or those who knowingly
violate the law.” A rogue officer who brutally beats a suspect or manufactures
evidence, for example, can be held personally liable and sued for his actions.
Qualified immunity leaves ample room for accountability,
and plaintiffs regularly prevail in court. In 43 percent of cases alleging
excessive force between 2017–2019, courts held that the officers’ unreasonable
actions placed them outside the bounds of qualified-immunity protections.
There are also many other ways to hold officers to a high
standard and get justice for victims of police mistakes and malfeasance.
Officers who violate department policies can be disciplined or fired, and those
who commit crimes are criminally prosecuted just like anyone else. Victims of
police errors or crimes also often receive financial compensation from the
department or by suing the city government. Personal lawsuits are far from
necessary to ensure justice and accountability.
While some activists have attempted to use the tragic
death of George Floyd as a hook for their anti–qualified-immunity activism,
they ignore that the officer involved, Derek Chauvin, faced criminal
prosecution for his actions and Floyd’s family received a $27 million
settlement from the city. In fact, the Chauvin case proves the opposite of what
critics claim.
Eliminating qualified immunity would result in far less
accountability and democratic control over law enforcement. Without this
protection, police would be forced to procure private insurance against
personal lawsuits. This would not only increase the cost of policing but would
also put insurance companies in a position to dictate enforcement practices and
activity. Insurance companies would inevitably demand that states and cities
curtail policing practices that expose officers to higher liability, in order
to avoid higher costs and risks for the company. Insurance executives would
thereby undemocratically shape public safety and set policy on behalf of
Americans living in dangerous neighborhoods. All the while, plaintiffs with
legitimate claims would have to face off against insurance-company lawyers —
who are motivated by profit, not justice or fairness.
In all likelihood, the practical result of eliminating or
significantly curtailing qualified immunity would be fewer police, less
enforcement, and more crime. This is the true goal of most critics of qualified
immunity. They are seeking to covertly “defund the police” without ever saying
those words. They must not succeed.
When police officers strap on their guns and vests, and
put their lives at risk to protect the people in their community, they
shouldn’t have to worry about financial ruin just for doing their job. We
should protect those who protect us — and that means protecting qualified
immunity.
No comments:
Post a Comment