I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 288 
To amend the Revised Statute to codify the defense of qualified immunity 
in the case of any action under section 1979, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 13, 2021 
Mr. BANKS (for himself and Mr. STEUBE) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To amend the Revised Statute to codify the defense of quali-
fied immunity in the case of any action under section 
1979, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Qualified Immunity 
Act of 2021’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Qualified immunity is intended for all but 
the plainly incompetent or those who knowingly vio-
late the law and is meant to give government offi-
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cials 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 account-
able when they exercise power irresponsibly and the 
need to shield officers from harassment, distraction, 
and liability when they perform their duties reason-
ably. 
SEC. 3. CODIFICATION OF QUALIFIED IMMUNITY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1979 of the Revised Stat-
utes (42 U.S.C. 1983) is amended— 
(1) by inserting ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL—’’ before 
‘‘Every person’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following new sub-
section: 
‘‘(b) APPLICABILITY TO LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFI-
CERS.— 
‘‘(1) A law enforcement officer subject to an ac-
tion under this section in their individual capacity 
shall not be found liable if such law enforcement of-
ficer establishes that— 
‘‘(A) the right, privilege, or immunity se-
cured by the Constitution or Federal law was 
not clearly established at the time of their dep-
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rivation by the law enforcement officer, or that 
at this time, the state of the law was not suffi-
ciently clear that every reasonable law enforce-
ment 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 offi-
cer 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’ means any Federal, State, 
Tribal, or local official who is authorized by law to 
engage in or supervise the prevention, detection, in-
vestigation, or the incarceration of any person for 
any violation of law, and has statutory powers of ar-
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rest or apprehension, including police officers and 
other agents of a law enforcement agency. 
‘‘(2) LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY.—The term 
‘law enforcement agency’ means any Federal, State, 
Tribal, or local public agency engaged in supervision, 
prevention, detection, investigation, or the incarcer-
ation of any person for any violation of law, and has 
statutory powers of arrest or apprehension.’’. 
(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. 
Æ 
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