Bill would put qualified immunity for police into state law, some fear it goes too far

Shannon Heckt
·2 min read

BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — Louisiana lawmakers advanced a bill that would solidify qualified immunity for officers into law, but some fear it is protecting law enforcement from many lawsuits.

HB2 would put qualified immunity into state law for the first time in civil cases brought against law enforcement officers. It would take out the wiggle room for judges when they apply immunity to officers and lay out stricter guidelines. Judges can allow officers to be protected when they violate someone’s rights when within reason of performing their job. It does not protect them from criminal behavior.

“This bill protects an officer who makes the right call when he’s placed in harm’s way with reasonable decisions. It does not protect a bad officer or a bad actor,” said Shannon Darmon, Counsel for the Louisiana Sheriff’s Association.

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The bill is part of the Louisiana Sheriff’s Association’s priority bills this year. One representative for the agency said they are struggling to recruit people to become officers for fear of being sued while on the job.

“It helps us let them know that they will not lose their home or their property if they act reasonably,” Darmon said.

Those against the bill fear the language of the bill would expand the immunity of officers to protect them against negligence, outrageous and malicious behavior. State Rep. Edmond Jordan (D-Baton Rouge), who has brought a bill in the past to limit qualified immunity, said the few exceptions in the bill that would prevent an officer from getting immunity are not broad enough to match current judicial policy.

“If something that an officer does is outrageous and it violates your constitutional right. They should not get the benefit of qualified immunity,” Jordan said.

The bill lays out the exceptions as:

(1) Any act or omission of a peace officer which constitutes criminal, fraudulent, or intentional misconduct.

(2) Any private nongovernmental person or entity, including any private employer of a peace officer during that officer’s off-duty hours.

“I can see instances where we’re going to see law enforcement dealing with excessive force on individuals, frankly, that look like me. And then there not be any repercussions within state law,” Jordan said.

An amendment was brought to ensure officers have a duty to drive with regard to safety for those around them. But it does not explicitly state a case can be brought against an officer who causes a major crash, like what happened in Jordan’s district where two girls were killed as the result of a police chase. He said he wants to work more on that language to allow for the family of the girls to be able to seek legal action.

The bill now heads to the full Senate for further debate. The special crime session can only last until March 6.

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