Federal

Qualified Immunity Act of 2023

Source: Congress.gov · 765 words in original text

What This Bill Does

This bill amends federal law to write qualified immunity into the law. Qualified immunity is a legal defense that protects government officials from being sued personally for damages in certain situations. The bill specifically applies this defense to law enforcement officers in lawsuits brought under a federal civil rights statute.

Who It Affects

Law enforcement officers (including Federal, State, Tribal and local police officers and agents) Law enforcement agencies and local government units that employ law enforcement officers People who sue law enforcement officers for civil rights violations

Key Provisions

A law enforcement officer cannot be found liable in a lawsuit if they show that the constitutional right or federal law protection at issue was not clearly established at the time of their action, or that the law was not clear enough that every reasonable officer would understand their conduct violated the Constitution or federal law (Sec. 3) A law enforcement officer cannot be found liable if a court had previously issued a final court decision stating that the specific conduct alleged to be unlawful was actually consistent with the Constitution and federal laws (Sec. 3) A law enforcement agency or local government cannot be held liable for a lawsuit against an officer if that officer is found not liable and was acting within their job duties (Sec. 3)

What Changes

The qualified immunity defense becomes written into federal statute rather than only existing through court decisions. Law enforcement officers will have a legal shield against personal liability in civil rights lawsuits if they meet either of two conditions listed in the bill.

Important Definitions

Law enforcement officer: Any Federal, State, Tribal or local official authorized by law to prevent, detect, investigate or incarcerate people for law violations, and who has arrest or apprehension powers. This includes police officers and other law enforcement agents. (Sec. 3) Law enforcement agency: Any Federal, State, Tribal or local public agency that supervises, prevents, detects, investigates or incarcerates people for law violations, and has arrest or apprehension powers. (Sec. 3)

Effective Date

180 days after the bill becomes law (Sec. 3)

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 233 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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 10, 2023 Mr. BANKS introduced the following bill; which was 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 sec- tion 1979, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Qualified Immunity 4 Act of 2023’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 (1) Qualified immunity is intended for all but 8 the plainly incompetent or those who knowingly vio- 9 late the law and is meant to give government offi- 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:26 Feb 18, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H233.IH H233 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 233 IH cials breathing room to make reasonable mistakes of 1 fact and law. 2 (2) The Supreme Court has observed that 3 qualified immunity balances two important interests, 4 the need to hold law enforcement officers account- 5 able when they exercise power irresponsibly and the 6 need to shield officers from harassment, distraction, 7 and liability when they perform their duties reason- 8 ably. 9 SEC. 3. CODIFICATION OF QUALIFIED IMMUNITY. 10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1979 of the Revised Stat- 11 utes (42 U.S.C. 1983) is amended— 12 (1) by inserting ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL—’’ before 13 ‘‘Every person’’; and 14 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub- 15 section: 16 ‘‘(b) APPLICABILITY TO LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFI- 17 CERS.— 18 ‘‘(1) A law enforcement officer subject to an ac- 19 tion under this section in their individual capacity 20 shall not be found liable if such law enforcement of- 21 ficer establishes that— 22 ‘‘(A) the right, privilege, or immunity se- 23 cured by the Constitution or Federal law was 24 not clearly established at the time of their dep- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:26 Feb 18, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H233.IH H233 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 233 IH rivation by the law enforcement officer, or that 1 at this time, the state of the law was not suffi- 2 ciently clear that every reasonable law enforce- 3 ment officer would have understood that the 4 conduct alleged constituted a violation of the 5 Constitution or Federal law; or 6 ‘‘(B) a court of competent jurisdiction had 7 issued a final decision on the merits holding, 8 without reversal, vacatur, or preemption, that 9 the specific conduct alleged to be unlawful was 10 consistent with the Constitution and Federal 11 laws. 12 ‘‘(2) A law enforcement agency or unit of local 13 government who employed a law enforcement officer 14 subject to an action under subsection (a), shall not 15 be liable for such action if the law enforcement offi- 16 cer is found not liable under paragraph (1) and was 17 acting within the scope of their employment. 18 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 19 ‘‘(1) LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER.—The term 20 ‘law enforcement officer’ means any Federal, State, 21 Tribal, or local official who is authorized by law to 22 engage in or supervise the prevention, detection, in- 23 vestigation, or the incarceration of any person for 24 any violation of law, and has the statutory powers 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:26 Feb 18, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H233.IH H233 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 233 IH of arrest or apprehension, including police officers 1 and other agents of a law enforcement agency. 2 ‘‘(2) LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY.—The term 3 ‘law enforcement agency’ means any Federal, State, 4 Tribal, or local public agency engaged in supervision, 5 prevention, detection, investigation, or the incarcer- 6 ation of any person for any violation of law, and has 7 the statutory powers of arrest or apprehension.’’. 8 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 9 under subsection (a) shall take effect on the date that is 10 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act. 11 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:26 Feb 18, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H233.IH H233 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB

Important: This plain English summary was generated by AI and is provided for informational purposes only. It is not legal advice. Always consult the official bill text on Congress.gov or a qualified attorney for legal matters.