GOP Rep. Banks introduces qualified immunity bill to protect police officers

Indiana GOP Rep. Jim Banks on Tuesday introduced a qualified immunity bill to protect police officers from being sued individually unless he or she violated a person's rights. 

The legislation would codify the Supreme Court precedent set in favor of qualified immunity, which says government workers cannot be held liable in civil lawsuits for performing their duties at work. Banks previously introduced the Qualified Immunity Act in 2020, and made the bill his first in the 118th Congress.

"Subjecting officers to frivolous, unending lawsuits from the same criminals they put behind bars would be a miscarriage of justice and bankrupt almost every police department in the country," Banks said. 

New Mexico and Colorado both passed laws ending qualified immunity following the George Floyd riots during the summer of 2020.

"Every single factual scenario an officer encounters is different and unknown. It is almost impossible for an officer to determine how a legal doctrine will apply to a split-second factual scenario. That’s why we support Representative Bank’s bill to codify the existing precedent," Fraternal Order of Police National Presidetn Patrick Yoes said.