A CTEQI update. Today, federal lawmakers let down the American people by scraping qualified immunity reform from the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act negotiations.
But the good news is, we still have many viable paths to accountability. Our fight is far from over.
Here’s what’s next. We are increasing our focus on individual states and renewing our efforts to support the stand-alone Ending Qualified Immunity Act, which legislators are currently working on.
The state-based initiatives are especially promising.
While the Senate stalled on passing police reform, Colorado and New Mexico took action by ending qualified immunity for bad cops. Connecticut strengthened accountability by weakening the unjust rule.
Meanwhile, California, Virginia, and Vermont have all introduced bold measures to strike down qualified immunity. And the list grows. So much so that the Pew Center recently declared 2021 “a groundbreaking year for police accountability.”
The fight continues, and we won’t rest until qualified immunity ends.