POSITIVE Justice & Civil Liberties 119th Congress

H.R.3602 Ending Qualified Immunity Act

Ends qualified immunity for police officers, allowing victims of misconduct to sue for civil rights violations (119th Congress)

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Legal & Constitutional Grounding

Qualified immunity is judicial doctrine (Harlow 1982), not statutory; Reuters documented thousands of shielded excessive force cases.

42 U.S.C. § 1983 — civil action for deprivation of rights; qualified immunity is judicial doctrine, not statutory

Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800 (1982) — created qualified immunity standard
Reuters Investigation (2020): qualified immunity shielded officers in thousands of documented excessive force cases

Ending Qualified Immunity Act. Qualified immunity, created by judicial interpretation rather than statute, prevents accountability for documented civil rights violations.