As Congress debates police reform, qualified immunity emerges as key dividing issue
WASHINGTON – As Congress wrestles with how to address policing reforms that hundreds of thousands of protesters across the nation are demanding, one issue has emerged as a potential hurdle with both sides appearing to dig in their heels.
The Supreme Court on Monday refused to reconsider qualified immunity, the protection that shields police and other public officials from lawsuits if accused of misconduct. The issue has been one of the key changes sought by Democrats and one of the few that Republicans have dubbed a non-starter. The has set up a battle on Capitol Hill as protests continue across the nation after the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.
Senate Republicans are planning to introduce a bill on Wednesday to address policing and racial tensions that have boiled over in some cities, while the House is planning to move forward with examining its own legislative response. The chambers will have to find a middle ground and garner the approval of President Donald Trump before any changes become law.
"What we need to do is find a path forward. I don’t know that we’ve found that path forward yet," Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., who has led the legislative response from congressional Republicans, told reporters Monday. "Without the bill becoming law, whether it’s my bill or some version of some other bill, then we’ve kind of failed the moment. And I think we should all be interested in getting every aspect of the legislation that we can across the finish line."
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/as-congress-debates-police-reform-qualified-immunity-emerges-as-key-dividing-issue/ar-BB15y84V?li=BBnbfcQ&ocid=DELLDHP
