CLEVELAND, Ohio — Qualified immunity is a doctrine first introduced in the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1960s to protect government and law enforcement officials from civil liability in cases where they acted in good faith.

What You Need To Know


  • The death of George Floyd  hasn't not only sparked protest across the country. It has amplified conversations about police reform, which includes examining "qualified immunity."

  • Qualified immunity is a doctrine first introduced in the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1960s

  • Some view qualified immunity as a serious barrier to filing and recovering  damages in  civil lawsuits

Elizabeth Bonham is an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio. She says since the early 2000s, courts have increasingly applied the doctrine to cases, making it almost impossible to hold police accountable in instances where they’ve used excessive or deadly force. 

“When the federal courts started developing this doctrine, in the beginning, this was supposed to protect a good faith officer and then an officer who was acting reasonably. And now what courts have said is that it should protect all but the plainly incompetent, and what we've seen is what that means as a practical matter and for the families of victims of police violence, is that these officers are getting off scot-free,” Bonham said.

Bonham says qualified immunity is a serious barrier to filing and recovering damages in civil lawsuits, which are often the only way victims and families of victims of police violence get any justice. 

“Removing qualified immunity, you don't have to use the criminal legal system, you can at least get some justice for victims, not only in money damages, but in vindicating their rights in the courts and in demonstrating to the public that this kind of accountability is going to be found somewhere and that federal courts are the right place to find it,” she said.

Criminal defense lawyer and Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association outgoing president Ian Friedman says he has seen first hand, through his clients, the impact of qualified immunity . 

“They cling onto this hope and this belief that they should have, that the wrong can be righted in courts of law. Then all of a sudden, you know, thereafter, they're re-victimized almost when they see the courts say, yeah, sorry, but there's nothing we can do and the officer gets to continue working, and then they're fearful of who's that going to happen to next.”

Friedman says ending qualified immunity would actually benefit law enforcement officers and their relationship with the communities they serve. 

“What they would find if qualified immunity were taken, was that holding them accountable would ensure that departments would be made up of good officers with good intentions. They would think twice. You would not have the bad actors being able to act so callously, so I think inevitably, it would be a great thing. And again, I think the great officers, good officers would like it,” Friedman said.

Attorney Henry Hilow represents the Cleveland Police Patrolmen’s Association and he says removing qualified immunity would actually be detrimental to officers and the communities they serve.

“You would have potential criminal cases being tied up because police officers would be involved in civil lawsuits, you'd have a greater cost and taxing of the system itself. We don't want to have a chilling effect on what they do so that they don't act and react to protect and serve the public, and I believe if you dissolve the qualified immunity, that's what will happen. And I think you got to look at a broad picture sometimes and each case stands alone on its individual facts,” Hilow said.

Hilow says ending qualified immunity will not lead to true reform. 

“If you get to qualified immunity, you're too late. I think the equation starts in the beginning — who you hire, what you do and how you build your police department, and you build your police department or the solid foundation, and it starts with good people.,“ he said.

When it comes to reform here in Cleveland, Friedman and Black Lives Matter Cleveland Co-founder Kareem Henton are collaborating to address racial inequality, police reform, and justice.

Henton says he’s hopeful that partnerships between those working at a grassroots level and those in the courtrooms will lead to lasting police reform. 

“We've got to attack it on the other end as well, and make sure that the legislation and the policies go along with what we know is right. With this work, with these new partnerships, with this new focus, focusing on the collective bargaining agreement and binding arbitration, as well as qualified immunity, with the CMBA, that just along with a lot of dedicated folks that are committed to this in the long haul, I think that whatever they can’t do on that end, we will be able to do on this end," Henton said.