Ending Qualified Immunity Act
The Ending Qualified Immunity Act would amend 42 U.S.C. 1983 (the Revised Statutes portion commonly referred to as section 1979) to strike away the qualified immunity defense for any civil-rights claim brought against government actors acting under color of law. In practical terms, this means that, for actions filed on or after enactment (and actions already pending), defendants could no longer rely on a good-faith defense, belief that their conduct was lawful, the rights not being clearly established at the time, or the state of the law preventing knowledge as reasons to avoid liability. The bill frames this as returning to the original intent of the Ku Klux Klan Act (1871) and correcting what it describes as an erroneous interpretation that insulated officials from liability. The overall effect would be to make civil-rights lawsuits more possible and potentially more likely to result in liability or damages against government officials and the entities they represent.
Key Points
- 1Short title: The act is named the Ending Qualified Immunity Act.
- 2Core change to liability rule: Section 1983 would no longer provide a defense of qualified immunity; officials could be sued for civil-rights violations without being shielded by that defense.
- 3New subsection (b) details: For actions pending on or filed after enactment, the following cannot excuse liability: (1) good faith actions, (2) belief that conduct was lawful, (3) rights not clearly established, or (4) the state of the law preventing knowledge of illegality.
- 4Legislative framing: Section 2 provides historical findings about the original Act (the Ku Klux Klan Act) and the evolution of qualified immunity; Section 3 states the sense of Congress that the standard should reflect the statute’s face text rather than a doctrine of immunity.
- 5Scope of application: The removal of the defense applies to actions under section 1983 (i.e., actions alleging violation of constitutional rights by state/local officials) and covers actions filed after enactment as well as those already pending.