Lawmakers are rejecting efforts to end qualified immunity for police officers.
Members of the General Assembly have taken a number of steps to increase accountability for law-enforcement officers over the course of the last year. But there's one change they have not made: ending qualified immunity and allowing people to sue officers or their agencies for wrongdoing.
Mark Dix at the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association says lawmakers need to figure out a way to take action on this.
"This is about holding the employment agencies accountable in the most egregious cases," Dix says. "If we're going to prevent the next George Floyd, we have to have the employing agencies held liable in these type of situations."
Law-enforcement agencies are lobbying hard against ending qualified immunity. Here's Wayne Huggins at the Virginia State Police Association.
"Law enforcement widely views this as yet another assault on our profession. It's impacting enormously our already low morale," explains Huggins.
Now, the House and Senate each had some version of a qualified immunity bill, and they've both been set aside for now. So this is something that could end up being an issue candidates are asked about on the campaign trail later this year.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
