Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) on Tuesday discussed qualified immunity for police officers, which many are saying should be looked at in the wake of the deaths of George Floyd in Minneapolis and Rayshard Brooks in Atlanta, both during interactions with police.
Booker argued on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” that as long as there is no “accountability” for law enforcement, “there will be no change” in how officers behave.
“On qualified immunity, I was looking at a document from the Cato Institute listing a whole bunch of other conservative organizations that all think it’s outrageous that we are a country where you can violate another person’s civil rights, and you cannot be held accountable through a 1983 civil rights claim. It’s unconscionable to me,” Booker told MSNBC’s, Willie Geist. “And the stories of failed attempts in civil court to sue somebody, shields of qualified immunity are stunning.”
He added, “The thought we don’t have the ability to hold those officers accountable on the federal level, either through qualified immunity on the civil side or section 242, which has been a shield on the criminal side, is unconscionable. If there is no accountability, there will be no change. If officers know they can do things that are so far against our community standards but know they won’t face criminal or civil penalties, there will be no change.”
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