It’s been well over a month since Senators and Representatives began pledging to bring about some national measure of police reform. We are still waiting. There has, to be sure, been plenty of political posturing: Democrats blaming Republicans for not being willing to go far enough; Republicans blaming Democrats for not being willing to compromise.
In the latest update, Tim Scott, a senator from South Carolina who’s led the Republican camp’s side in the reform effort, shared that he’s spoken with Karen Bass in recent days (Bass is a representative from California, the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, and one of many being vetted to be Joe Biden’s running mate), and that sides may still be willing to meet in the middle.
We’ve spent a lot of words on qualified immunity within our commentary here at The Barking Crow—qualified immunity being the doctrine that shields police officers and other public officials from being held financially liable for violations of the constitutional rights of American citizens. We’ve done this because it is a uniquely obvious area in need of reform. Other reforms are obvious as well, of course—backed by research, logically and morally sound. But the rationale for ending qualified immunity is as simple as, “American citizens have constitutional rights. They should be able to sue public officials who violate those rights.” Also, it is not prescriptive, overriding local governments, and while it’s sometimes necessary to override local governments (see: the Civil Rights Acts), that sort of action runs the risk of trying to make one solution fit everywhere from Honolulu to Minot. Reforming qualified immunity is not a reform that sets up any new systems—it simply tears down a barrier to the protection of constitutional rights.
There’s been action on qualified immunity in both chambers of Congress: a tripartisan bill in the House to end it, a bill introduced by Senators Markey, Warren, and Sanders—all Democrats—to end it, and a bill introduced by Senator Braun—a Republican—to reform it. In Scott’s remarks about speaking with Bass, he did open the door to qualified immunity reform, saying citizens whose constitutional rights have been violated should be able to sue police departments and cities while also saying there should be a “moat around the officer” still shielding from such civil action. This half-measure would be a significant step of progress if enacted. On the practical side of qualified immunity, the point of reforming it is to create a financial incentive for police officers to not violate constitutional rights. If that financial incentive belongs to cities rather than the officers themselves, it’s still an incentive—one that would presumably, due to insurance premiums, necessitate more effective local reform than what’s currently being done without applying a one-size-fits-all set of rules for every local government in the country.
Police reform legislation passing before November still appears unlikely, given the Republican and Democratic Parties control so much of Congress and, at the very least, appear to perceive bickering to be a more effective strategy for attaining votes than legislating (they may be correct in this perception). After January, though, it’s possible we’ll see some change, and it’s not impossible we’ll see something happen sooner. Cross your fingers. Call your congresspeople.
