Republican Indiana Sen. Jim Banks introduced a bill Thursday to protect the nation’s law enforcement officers from frivolous lawsuits.
Banks’ Qualified Immunity Act would codify qualified immunity protections for law enforcement, which would allow officers to perform their duties in good faith while being immune from civil suits in most situations, according to background on the bill exclusively obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Law enforcement officers are entitled to qualified immunity unless their actions infringe upon “clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known,” according to the Congressional Research Service.
“My legislation will protect those who risk their lives every day to keep our communities safe,” Banks told the DCNF. “Removing qualified immunity would open police departments up to frivolous lawsuits that would effectively bankrupt and defund them. This bill ensures that officers acting in good faith are protected while still holding accountable those who violate clearly established precedent.”
“I will always back the blue,” Banks added.
Banks’ bill seeking to codify qualified immunity protections is one of the first pieces of legislation the Indiana Republican has introduced as a senator. The staunch conservative previously served five terms in the House of Representatives, during which he introduced similar legislation seeking to establish qualified immunity for law enforcement officers.
Banks’ Qualified Immunity Act of 2023 was sponsored by 40 House Republicans, but did not advance out of the House Judiciary Committee.
Democratic lawmakers, and some Republicans, have attempted to rein in or fully repeal qualified immunity in recent years, citing their belief that law enforcement officers should be held accountable for alleged civil rights abuses.
Multiple law enforcement organizations, including the National Fraternal Order of Police, Police Officers’ Defense Coalition, National Association of Police Organizations and the National Center for Police Defense, endorsed Banks’ bill.
“The Qualified Immunity Act of the 119th Congress carried by Senator Banks and [Republican] Representatives [Virginia] Foxx [of North Carolina] and [Derrick] Van Orden [of Wisconsin] is what law enforcement needs to codify the 1967 U.S. Supreme Court decision to protect law enforcement from frivolous lawsuits,” Bert Eyler, vice president of the Police Officers’ Defense Coalition, told the DCNF. “The 119th Congress needs to do its job and make Qualified Immunity a ‘Law’ not an ‘Act’ so officers can breathe easier after every call knowing Congress finally has their back!”
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