Qualified Immunity Act of 2025
This bill provides statutory authority for qualified immunity for law enforcement officers in civil cases involving constitutional violations.
Current law provides a statutory civil cause of action against state and local government actors (e.g., law enforcement officers) for violations of constitutional rights, also known as Section 1983 lawsuits. The Supreme Court has also found an implied cause of action against federal law enforcement officers in certain situations (e.g., Fourth Amendment violations), also known as Bivens lawsuits. However, under the judicial doctrine of qualified immunity, government officials performing discretionary duties are generally shielded from civil liability, unless their actions violate clearly established rights of which a reasonable person would have known.
The bill provides statutory authority for these principles with respect to law enforcement officers. Specifically, under the bill, law enforcement officers are entitled to qualified immunity if (1) at the time of the alleged violation, the constitutional right at issue was not clearly established or the state of the law was not sufficiently clear that any reasonable officer would have known that the conduct was unconstitutional; or (2) a court has held that the specific conduct at issue is constitutional.
The bill applies to federal, state, and local law enforcement officers. It also specifies that law enforcement agencies and local governments may not be held liable if their officers are entitled to qualified immunity.
[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 122 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 122
To amend the Revised Statutes to codify the defense of qualified
immunity in the case of any action under section 1979, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
January 16, 2025
Mr. Banks (for himself, Mr. Budd, Mr. Scott of Florida, Mrs. Blackburn,
Mr. Sheehy, Mr. Crapo, Mrs. Hyde-Smith, Mr. Mullin, and Mr. Risch)
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Revised Statutes to codify the defense of qualified
immunity in the case of any action under section 1979, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Qualified Immunity Act of 2025''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Qualified immunity is intended for all but the plainly
incompetent or those who knowingly violate the law and is meant
to give government officials breathing room to make reasonable
mistakes of fact and law.
(2) The Supreme Court of the United States has observed
that qualified immunity balances 2 important interests: The
need to hold law enforcement officers accountable when they
exercise power irresponsibly and the need to shield officers
from harassment, distraction, and liability when they perform
their duties reasonably.
SEC. 3. CODIFICATION OF QUALIFIED IMMUNITY.
(a) In General.--Section 1979 of the Revised Statutes (42 U.S.C.
1983) is amended--
(1) by striking ``Every'' and inserting ``(a) In General--
Every''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(b) Applicability to Law Enforcement Officers.--
``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection:
``(A) Law enforcement agency.--The term `law
enforcement agency' means any Federal, State, Tribal,
or local public agency--
``(i) engaged in supervision, prevention,
detection, investigation, or the incarceration
of any person for any violation of law; and
``(ii) that has the statutory powers of
arrest or apprehension.
``(B) Law enforcement officer.--The term `law
enforcement officer'--
``(i) means any Federal, State, Tribal, or
local official who--
``(I) is authorized by law to
engage in or supervise the prevention,
detection, investigation, or the
incarceration of any person for any
violation of law; and
``(II) has the statutory powers of
arrest or apprehension; and
``(ii) includes police officers and other
agents of a law enforcement agency.
``(2) No liability.--
``(A) Law enforcement officers.--A law enforcement
officer subject to an action under this section in
their individual capacity shall not be found liable if
such law enforcement officer establishes that--
``(i) the right, privilege, or immunity
secured by the Constitution or Federal law was
not clearly established at the time of their
deprivation by the law enforcement officer, or
that at this time, the state of the law was not
sufficiently clear that any reasonable law
enforcement officer would have understood that
the conduct alleged constituted a violation of
the Constitution or Federal law; or
``(ii) a court of competent jurisdiction
had issued a final decision on the merits
holding, without reversal, vacatur, or
preemption, that the specific conduct alleged
to be unlawful was consistent with the
Constitution and Federal laws.
``(B) Law enforcement agencies and units of local
government.--A law enforcement agency or unit of local
government who employed a law enforcement officer
subject to an action under subsection (a), shall not be
liable for such action if the law enforcement officer--
``(i) is found not liable under paragraph
(1); and
``(ii) was acting within the scope of their
employment.''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendments made under subsection (a) shall
take effect on the date that is 180 days after the date of enactment of
this Act.
<all>
Introduced in Senate
Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Llama 3.2 · runs locally in your browser
Ask anything about this bill. The AI reads the full text to answer.
Enter to send · Shift+Enter for new line