MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Divisive legislation that would expand legal immunity for police officers who use excessive force or kill someone in the line of duty advanced in the Alabama legislature on Wednesday, sparking outcry among civil rights attorneys and activists who say that it would make civil and criminal prosecution functionally impossible.
Existing Alabama law already offers enhanced legal protections for law enforcement, but proponents of the “back the blue” bill say that it will increase the recruitment and retention of officers and make police safer.
Police and civilians alike are currently entitled to a “stand your ground” hearing in criminal cases where a judge can determine whether the defendant acted in self defense. The new bill would allow an additional immunity hearing for officers accused of criminal wrongdoing, where a judge will decide if a case can proceed based on whether the officer acted recklessly outside the scope of law enforcement duties.
As the bill is currently written, even if the judge initially denies the officer immunity in a criminal case, defense attorneys for the officers can repeat their argument for immunity in front of a jury.
Unlike civilians, police are also currently protected from civil liability unless an officer acts “willfully, maliciously, fraudulently, in bad faith, beyond his or her authority, or under a mistaken interpretation of the law.” The new bill would limit liability further to mirror the standards used the criminal immunity hearing.
Norma Sanders, the president of the Lee County NAACP in the eastern part of the state, said at a public hearing in February that the organization gets complaints regularly about police brutality, but that it is already difficult to get legal accountability under current law.
“We know that many of the police officers receive little to no punishment when they commit a crime, because they are hiding behind the badge and say that they feared for their lives,” Sanders said.
The bill is one of several in Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey ’s crime package that she said is as a priority for this legislative session.
Republican Rep. Rex Reynolds, who sponsored the bill, said that it is essential for officer safety.
“We need that same confidence within our law enforcement officers that they can perform their duties — sometimes at 21 years old — and put them in a situation where within three seconds they have to make a discretionary authority decision,” Reynolds said.
Democrats on the state House of Representatives Judiciary Committee argued that it made officers functionally immune from criminal prosecution, and pointed to several high-profile police killings in the state that have not resulted in guilty verdicts.
Former Alabama police officer Jim Taylor testified at the February hearing that the bill has the potential to undermine an already strained relationship between some citizens and law enforcement.
“The trust in law enforcement is conditioned on the ability to hold officers accountable for their actions. That’s what builds trust in our communities with our law enforcement representatives,” Taylor said.
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Safiyah Riddle is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.