Sign the Letter To End Qualified immunity in NY
Qualified Immunity is one of the biggest hurdles to justice, transparency and accountability in cases where the state officials have violated our rights.
The judicial doctrine created by the Supreme Court more than 50 years ago, shields state actors from civil liability for their misconduct, and gives them a pass to violate our rights. This harms all of us, but particularly Black and brown New Yorkers. In response to the calls for justice and a need for reforms in policing the “George Floyd in Policing Act” was introduced in the Federal legislature, however negotiations failed and the bill stalled in the Senate. It is widely understood by national, state and local organizations that any changes to qualified immunity must now come from legislators at the state level. States like Colorado and New Mexico have already taken action to protect the civil rights of their residents and now New York must do the same. The state legislature has the opportunity to address this and must do so given the broad support across the political spectrum.
Passing the Bill to End Qualified Immunity in NY (s182/a710) would:
Qualified Immunity creates legal hurdles for victims so enormous that cases are either thrown out before the facts are ever established or dragged on for years, sometimes longer than ten years as has been the case of Kenneth Chamberlain Sr.’s family . Victims of state violence are often unable to get civil rights attorneys to take on their cases because qualified immunity can be so difficult to overcome. We know that justice delayed is justice denied, and victims and their families are denied any emotional closure.
Trust between people and the federal and state government is at historic lows. This is in part because qualified immunity has undermined accountability for public officials—especially members of law enforcement. The doctrine harms not only the victims of police and corrections misconduct, but the law enforcement community itself by eroding trust between public officials and the communities they are meant to protect. When judges routinely excuse the misconduct of public officials on technicalities, all state officials suffer a reputational loss. Qualified immunity must be a central component of any police and criminal legal system reform as well as any discussions around public safety.
The substance of constitutional rights is meaningless if state actors can violate those rights with impunity. Unfortunately, many members of law enforcement operate today in a culture of near-zero accountability, which means law enforcement officers rarely face meaningful consequences for their misconduct. Because of Qualified Immunity, it is entirely possible—and quite common—for courts to hold that government agents did violate someone’s rights, but that the victim has no legal remedy, simply because that precise sort of misconduct had not occurred in past cases. The culture of near-zero accountability has led to a crisis in confidence in our nation’s law enforcement. Accountability is an absolute necessity for meaningful criminal legal system reform, and any attempt to provide greater accountability must confront the doctrine of qualified immunity.
Ending qualified immunity is about getting to the root causes of state violations of our rights and preventing violence at the hands of law enforcement in the first place. As Justice Sonia Sotomayor said, qualified immunity “tells officers that they can shoot first and think later, it tells the public that palpably unreasonable conduct will go unpunished.” Ending qualified immunity is about making sure public officials think first and act in accordance with our constitutional rights.
By signing on to this letter I/We support the passage of the bill to End Qualified Immunity in New York State (s182/a710) to ensure victims and survivors of state violence have access to justice and that we are taking a fundamental step towards making New York State safe for everyone.