Durbin Responds Re Qualified Immunity

June 29, 2020 Mr. William Rosen 2N373 Swift Road Lombard, IL 60148-1176 Dear Mr. Rosen:           Thank you for contacting me about qualified immunity for law enforcement officers.  I appreciate hearing from you.           I am an original cosponsor of the Justice in Policing Act of 2020 (S. 3912).  This bill would limit the use of the qualified immunity doctrine and enable individuals to recover damages when law enforcement officers violate their constitutional rights.           The Justice in Policing Act also would make prosecuting police misconduct easier.  Currently, only “willful” violations of civil rights by a police officers are prohibited, making it very difficult to prosecute police officers accused of misconduct successfully. The Justice in Policing Act would change the federal standard from “willful” to “knowingly or with reckless disregard,” making it easier for those whose constitutional rights have been violated by law enforcement to recover damages.           In addition, the Justice in Policing Act would provide many other needed reforms, including granting subpoena power to the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division to help investigate patterns of racist and discriminatory behavior in police departments nationwide, providing grants to State Attorneys General to conduct these investigations at the state level, establishing lynching as a federal hate crime, establishing a national police misconduct registry, and banning the use of chokeholds and no-knock warrants in drug cases at the federal level, as well as limiting the transfer of military-grade equipment to state and local law enforcement through the Department of Defense.           I will keep your thoughts about qualified immunity for police officers in mind as this legislation is considered further.           Thank you again for contacting me.  Please feel free to keep in touch.
	Sincerely,       Richard J. Durbin       United States Senator
RJD/cr