Most people, no matter their job, are expected to follow the law. Doctors, lawyers, and property managers can all be sued and held accountable for violating someone’s rights. But public officials are not held to the same standard, due to a legal principle called qualified immunity — it means that law enforcement and other government officials can violate people’s constitutional rights with virtual impunity, even when their misconduct sends an innocent person to prison.
That changed yesterday in New Mexico when the New Mexico Civil Rights Act (HB 4) was signed into law. This new law puts a price tag on police misconduct and creates a strong incentive for agencies to adopt and enforce policies that prevent abuses that can lead to wrongful convictions. It also provides exonerees with the financial justice they deserve after government officials violated their rights and unjustly took their freedom.
“Eliminating the legal doctrine of qualified immunity not only provides financial justice to victims of police abuse, including people who have been wrongfully convicted, but it also incentivizes police agencies to properly hire, train, and supervise law enforcement to prevent abuses from occurring in the first place,” said Rebecca Brown, the Innocence Project’s director of policy.
Qualified immunity is why a New Mexico police officer faced no consequences for handcuffing, interrogating and mocking a 13-year-old student for burping repeatedly during class, even after a federal court agreed the arrest was unconstitutional. This new law can ensure that bad actors are held accountable and is one of the most consequential police accountability bills passed since the murder of George Floyd last May.
The Innocence Project exonerates the wrongly convicted through DNA testing and reforms the criminal justice system to prevent future injustice. www.innocenceproject.org
