Floyd family attorney knocks qualified immunity for officers

Benjamin Crump, an attorney for the family of the late George Floyd, said Sunday that the doctrine of qualified immunity, which grants government officials civil immunity for on-duty actions, allows police officers to get away with “reprehensible conduct.”

CBS’ Margaret Brennan noted that qualified immunity is a major bone of contention in the Senate as it prepares to take up a police reform bill passed by the House, and asked if there was room for compromise on the issue.

“We understand that politics is the art of compromise,” Crump said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “However, on qualified immunity, this has to be addressed, because this is the thing that allows bad police officers to engage in reprehensible conduct like we saw with George Floyd, and… hundreds of Black people being killed. It shields their behavior.”

After passing the House, the George Floyd Justice Act now heads to the Senate.

One of its stumbling blocks is qualified immunity — something Attorney Ben Crump says “allows bad police officers to engage in reprehensible conduct” like in the killing of George Floyd. pic.twitter.com/FiVzsQlCxV

— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) March 7, 2021

Crump added “we’re not saying this qualified immunity reform will deny police officers their due process, but what we are saying [is] it will allow those who have been harmed to have access to court, to be able to make sure we change the toxic nature that some of us feel happens in policing when we look at that George Floyd video.”

Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), the sponsor of a Senate policing reform bill, has said he will not compromise on the issue of amending qualified immunity. The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act passed the House last week, with no GOP votes and Democratic Reps. Jared Golden of Maine and Ron Kind of Wisconsin voting against it.