119-s122

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 122 Introduced in Senate

    (IS) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 S. 122

 To amend the Revised Statutes to codify the defense of qualified 
 immunity in the case of any action under 

section 1979, and for other 
 purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

 January 16, 2025

Mr. Banks (for himself, Mr. Budd, Mr. Scott of Florida, Mrs. Blackburn, 
 Mr. Sheehy, Mr. Crapo, Mrs. Hyde-Smith, Mr. Mullin, and Mr. Risch) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
 Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To amend the Revised Statutes to codify the defense of qualified 
 immunity in the case of any action under 

section 1979, and for other 
 purposes.

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

 This Act may be cited as the ``Qualified Immunity Act of 2025''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

 Congress finds the following:

    (1) Qualified immunity is intended for all but the plainly 
 incompetent or those who knowingly violate the law and is meant 
 to give government officials breathing room to make reasonable 
 mistakes of fact and law.

    (2) The Supreme Court of the United States has observed 
 that qualified immunity balances 2 important interests: The 
 need to hold law enforcement officers accountable when they 
 exercise power irresponsibly and the need to shield officers 
 from harassment, distraction, and liability when they perform 
 their duties reasonably.

SEC. 3. CODIFICATION OF QUALIFIED IMMUNITY.

    (a) In General.--

Section 1979 of the Revised Statutes (42 U.S.C. 
1983) is amended--

    (1) by striking ``Every'' and inserting ``

    (a) In General--
 Every''; and

    (2) by adding at the end the following:
 ``

    (b) Applicability to Law Enforcement Officers.--
 ``

    (1) === Definitions. ===
-In this subsection:
 ``
        (A) Law enforcement agency.--The term `law 
 enforcement agency' means any Federal, State, Tribal, 
 or local public agency--
 ``
            (i) engaged in supervision, prevention, 
 detection, investigation, or the incarceration 
 of any person for any violation of law; and
 ``
            (ii) that has the statutory powers of 
 arrest or apprehension.
 ``
        (B) Law enforcement officer.--The term `law 
 enforcement officer'--
 ``
            (i) means any Federal, State, Tribal, or 
 local official who--
 ``
            (I) is authorized by law to 
 engage in or supervise the prevention, 
 detection, investigation, or the 
 incarceration of any person for any 
 violation of law; and
 ``
            (II) has the statutory powers of 
 arrest or apprehension; and
 ``
            (ii) includes police officers and other 
 agents of a law enforcement agency.
 ``

    (2) No liability.--
 ``
        (A) Law enforcement officers.--A law enforcement 
 officer subject to an action under this section in 
 their individual capacity shall not be found liable if 
 such law enforcement officer establishes that--
 ``
            (i) the right, privilege, or immunity 
 secured by the Constitution or Federal law was 
 not clearly established at the time of their 
 deprivation by the law enforcement officer, or 
 that at this time, the state of the law was not 
 sufficiently clear that any reasonable law 
 enforcement officer would have understood that 
 the conduct alleged constituted a violation of 
 the Constitution or Federal law; or
 ``
            (ii) a court of competent jurisdiction 
 had issued a final decision on the merits 
 holding, without reversal, vacatur, or 
 preemption, that the specific conduct alleged 
 to be unlawful was consistent with the 
 Constitution and Federal laws.
 ``
        (B) Law enforcement agencies and units of local 
 government.--A law enforcement agency or unit of local 
 government who employed a law enforcement officer 
 subject to an action under subsection

    (a) , shall not be 
 liable for such action if the law enforcement officer--
 ``
            (i) is found not liable under paragraph

    (1) ; and
 ``
            (ii) was acting within the scope of their 
 employment.''.

    (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made under subsection

    (a) shall 
take effect on the date that is 180 days after the date of enactment of 
this Act.
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