Benjamin Crump, a lawyer for the family of the late George Floyd, said on Sunday that the qualified immunity doctrine, which grants government officials civil immunity for in-service actions, allows police officers to escape for “reprehensible conduct”.
Margaret Brennan, of CBS, noted that qualified immunity is a major bone of contention in the Senate, as she prepares to accept a police reform bill approved by the House, and asked if there was room for agreement on the issue.
“We understand that politics is the art of compromise,” said Crump on CBS’s “Face the Nation” program. “However, as far as qualified immunity is concerned, this has to be resolved, because that is what allows bad cops to engage in reprehensible conduct as we saw with George Floyd, and … hundreds of blacks being killed. This protects their behavior. “
After passing the House, the George Floyd Justice Act now moves to the Senate.
One of its obstacles is qualified immunity – something that lawyer Ben Crump says “allows bad cops to engage in reprehensible conduct”, as in the assassination of George Floyd. pic.twitter.com/FiVzsQlCxV
– Face the nation (@FaceTheNation) March 7, 2021
Crump added, “We are not saying that this qualified immunity reform will deny police due process, but what we are saying [is] it will allow those who have been harmed to have access to the court, to make sure to change the toxic nature that some of us think happens in policing when we see that George Floyd video. “
Sen. Tim Scott
Timothy (Tim) Eugene ScottWhy paid internship for foreign policy careers The Hill’s Morning Report – Presented by Facebook – Virus relief bill put to vote over weekend GOP single vote on police reform project in Chamber says he ‘accidentally pressed the wrong voting button’ MORE (RS.C.), the sponsor of a Senate policing reform project, said he would not make concessions on the issue of amending qualified immunity. George Floyd’s Policing Justice Act passed the House last week, with no votes from the Republican Party and Democratic representatives. Jared Golden from Maine and Ron Kind
Ronald (Ron) James KindJohnson says leaving office after 2022 ‘probably my preference now’ Republican Party’s single vote on the House reform bill says it ‘accidentally pressed the wrong voting button’ House approves George Floyd Justice in Policing Act MORE of Wisconsin voting against.