RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — A last-ditch effort to repeal qualified immunity during this year’s Virginia General Assembly session fell short Monday after a Senate committee rejected a measure that would have made it easier to sue over misconduct claims against police officers and collect damages in state court.
The Virginia Senate Judiciary Committee killed legislation from state Sen. Scott Surovell (D-Fairfax) on a bipartisan vote Monday, days after a similar, broader bill was tabled by a House subcommittee for further review.
On Friday, the Virginia House Courts of Justice Civil Subcommittee approved a recommendation to table a bill from Del. Jeff Bourne (D-Richmond) creating a civil action that would have allowed residents to seek damages in lawsuits alleging “the deprivation of a person’s rights by a law-enforcement officer.”
The legislation, which would have prohibited an officer from using sovereign or qualified immunity as a defense in court, was set aside to be studied by the Virginia Crime Commission.
Sen. Surovell’s measure sought to allow Virginians to pursue lawsuits and damages following alleged incidents of officer’s violating the state’s newly passed laws, including the chokehold ban, but required that the localities that hired the officer be liable. The Judiciary Committee voted down the legislation, promising to eventually have a Senate subcommittee study the effort to eliminate qualified immunity.
Critics of the legislation argue that any such effort would hinder local departments from hiring additional officers, an issue that law enforcement advocacy groups says is widespread in Virginia.
The Virginia NAACP President Robert N. Barnette released a state Wednesday in response to the failed qualified immunity legislation.
“It is disappointing to say the least that the bill to end qualified immunity died in the House. Too often, law enforcement is allowed to break standards of decency. This only makes it harder for Black people, people of color and quite frankly all Virginians to turn to police when needed.”