OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2021

Floor Speech

Date: March 3, 2021
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Criminal Justice

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Mr. RUTHERFORD. Madam Speaker, I rise today in opposition to this bill.

This bill should be a balefire, a warning to America that there are those across the aisle who wish to attempt to federalize State and local law enforcement. I would like to focus specifically, though, on this move to eliminate qualified immunity. This is a betrayal of law enforcement. This alone is enough reason to vote against this bill.

There is a myth, a lie, perpetrated by those who want to do away with qualified immunity, that qualified immunity gives officers free rein on the job. This is not true. This is not sovereign immunity; it is qualified immunity.

The way that an officer qualifies for that immunity and for it to apply in an action that he has taken, he must follow the law, he must follow his agency's policies, and he has to act as he has been appropriately trained. If he violates any one of those three, he is on his own; qualified immunity does not apply.

Madam Speaker, law enforcement is a dangerous profession that deals in split-second decisions. Most people in this room have no idea what it is like to determine, in a high-stress, life-threatening----

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