Qualified Immunity Act of 2023

To amend the Revised Statutes to codify the defense of qualified immunity in the case of any action under section 1979, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Qualified Immunity Act of 2023 2. Findings Congress finds the following: (1) Qualified immunity is intended for all but the plainly incompetent or those who knowingly violate the law and is meant to give government officials breathing room to make reasonable mistakes of fact and law. (2) The Supreme Court has observed that qualified immunity balances two important interests, the need to hold law enforcement officers accountable when they exercise power irresponsibly and the need to shield officers from harassment, distraction, and liability when they perform their duties reasonably. 3. Codification of qualified immunity (a) In general Section 1979 of the Revised Statutes ( 42 U.S.C. 1983 (1) by inserting (a) Every person (2) by adding at the end the following new subsection: (b) Applicability to law enforcement officers (1) A law enforcement officer subject to an action under this section in their individual capacity shall not be found liable if such law enforcement officer establishes that— (A) the right, privilege, or immunity secured by the Constitution or Federal law was not clearly established at the time of their deprivation by the law enforcement officer, or that at this time, the state of the law was not sufficiently clear that every reasonable law enforcement officer would have understood that the conduct alleged constituted a violation of the Constitution or Federal law; or (B) a court of competent jurisdiction had issued a final decision on the merits holding, without reversal, vacatur, or preemption, that the specific conduct alleged to be unlawful was consistent with the Constitution and Federal laws. (2) A law enforcement agency or unit of local government who employed a law enforcement officer subject to an action under subsection (a), shall not be liable for such action if the law enforcement officer is found not liable under paragraph (1) and was acting within the scope of their employment. (c) Definitions In this section: (1) Law enforcement officer The term law enforcement officer (2) Law enforcement agency The term law enforcement agency . (b) Effective date The amendments made under subsection (a) shall take effect on the date that is 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.

Summary: Qualified Immunity Act of 2023 This bill provides statutory authority for qualified immunity for law enforcement officers in civil cases involving constitutional violations. Current law provides a statutory civil cause of action against state and local government actors (e.g., law enforcement officers) for violations of constitutional rights, also known as Section 1983 lawsuits. The Supreme Court has also found an implied cause of action against federal law enforcement officers in certain situations (e.g., Fourth Amendment violations), also known as Bivens lawsuits. However, under the judicial doctrine of qualified immunity, government officials performing discretionary duties are generally shielded from civil liability, unless their actions violate clearly established rights of which a reasonable person would have known. The bill provides statutory authority for these principles with respect to law enforcement officers. Specifically, under the bill, law enforcement officers are entitled to qualified immunity if (1) at the time of the alleged violation, the constitutional right at issue was not clearly established or the state of the law was not sufficiently clear for every reasonable officer to know that the conduct was unconstitutional; or (2) a court has held that the specific conduct at issue is constitutional. The bill applies to federal, state, and local law enforcement officers. It also specifies that law enforcement agencies and local governments may not be held liable if their officers are entitled to qualified immunity.