Qualified Immunity Accountability Act

Key Points

• The bill eliminates qualified immunity as a defense for both local and federal law enforcement officers in civil rights lawsuits. Officers can no longer argue they were acting in good faith or that the rights they violated were not "clearly established" at the time.
• The bill lowers the criminal standard for prosecuting officers who violate civil rights. Instead of proving an officer acted "willfully," prosecutors would only need to show the officer acted "knowingly or recklessly," making it easier to bring criminal charges.
• If an officer's actions were a major contributing factor in someone's death, the officer can be held responsible, even if their actions were not the sole cause of death.
• The bill removes the death penalty as a possible punishment for federal civil rights violations that result in death, while keeping other penalties in place.
• These changes apply to both local police officers and federal investigative or law enforcement officers, covering a broad range of government agents who interact with the public.