“I don’t believe in defunding the police, this bill is about promoting good practices,” the independent added of LD 214 the bill that would end qualified immunity in Maine entirely.
Evangelos noted, in his opinion, “good police officers who do the right thing, abide by our laws, have nothing to worry about,” if the law is passed.
A summary of the legal language in the bill reads that it, “eliminates the ability to assert a defense of qualified immunity for civil actions concerning the actions of state police officers, sheriffs, deputies, constables, municipal police officers, marine patrol officers, game wardens and Capitol Police officers brought under the Maine Civil Rights Act.”
Maine lawmakers are considering changes to the state’s qualified immunity laws, with the state legislature’s judicial committee holding a hearing on a proposal to eliminate qualified immunity there all together. The push in Maine to end the federal legal rule that protects police officers from civil lawsuits while on the job, comes in the wake of the George Floyd murder.
Updated April 29
Maine lawmakers could limit or eliminate legal protection for law enforcement
The Legislature heard opposing arguments Thursday on bills to change qualified immunity, a legal standard that protects police officers from lawsuits.
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Legislators in Maine have joined lawmakers in more than two dozen states and the U.S. Congress in considering ending or limiting qualified immunity, the legal defense often used to shield police officers from lawsuits.
Qualified immunity has no bearing on whether a prosecutor charges a police officer with a crime, but it does affect whether that officer can be sued for civil rights violations. The U.S. Supreme Court created the concept more than 50 years ago to protect government employees from frivolous litigation, but it has expanded in case law over decades. It has come under new scrutiny, especially since the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis last year, as activists push for greater accountability when police officers use