Qualified immunity is a federal doctrine established by the Supreme Court in 1982. A state legislature can’t repeal qualified immunity, but proponents of ending the practice have asked local and state governments to create legislation allowing citizens more freedom in pursuing lawsuits against police misconduct.
Liberal Ben & Jerry s co-founders push to make it easier to sue police officers Print this article
While debates over police reform continue to swirl, the co-founders of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream launched an initiative to make it easier for people to sue police officers.
Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield recently announced the Campaign to End Qualified Immunity. The project is aimed at ending a
controversial police reform Supreme Court doctrine that shields the police from personal lawsuits. Efforts to roll back qualified immunity gained new life last in the wake of George Floyd’s death in the hands of Minneapolis police.
‘It’s just another person dead’: Fight to end Virginia’s death penalty gaining momentum
Montgomery County Cpl. Eric Sutphin was killed in 2006
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RICHMOND, Va. – Efforts to end the death penalty in Virginia are moving forward in the General Assembly.
Eliminating capital punishment would be a future much different than its past. The commonwealth ranks second in the country for most executions since 1976.
“To me, it seems like an unjust system,” said Rachel Sutphin, who supports abolishing the death penalty.
Sutphin is among those backing Senate Bill 1165 and House Bill 2263. Removing the death penalty from Virginia is something she’s been pushing for since the Commonwealth’s most recent execution of William Morva in 2017.
Michael Pope reports.
Members of the General Assembly have taken a number of steps to increase accountability for law-enforcement officers over the course of the last year. But there s one change they have not made: ending qualified immunity and allowing people to sue officers or their agencies for wrongdoing.
Mark Dix at the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association says lawmakers need to figure out a way to take action on this.
This is about holding the employment agencies accountable in the most egregious cases, Dix says. If we re going to prevent the next George Floyd, we have to have the employing agencies held liable in these type of situations.