Critical Police-Reform Bill On Qualified Immunity Narrowly Passes House

By Wesley Muller, Louisiana Illuminator

May 11, 2021

The Louisiana House passed a monumental police reform bill Tuesday night. The legislation would dismantle the qualified immunity protection that has long shielded police officers from lawsuits when they kill or injure citizens by using unreasonable force.

House Bill 609, sponsored by Rep. Edmond Jordan (D-Baton Rouge), was narrowly approved on the House floor in a 53-42 vote following lengthy debate that grew heated at times and brought some lawmakers to tears.

The legislation even survived what some House members called a “poison pill amendment” designed to kill the bill.

“We live in two different Americas (and) we live in two different Louisianas,” Jordan said in an emotional speech on the House floor, “and some of the issues that we face, I pray to God that you never have to face.”

The bill emerged after many meetings of the legislature’s Police Training, Screening and De-escalation Task Force, a 25-member panel established last year in response to national outcry at the 2020 murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.

Qualified immunity exists under both federal and many state laws. In Louisiana, qualified immunity effectively renders police officers and other public employees immune from lawsuits when they commit misconduct, violate someone’s rights or break the law. Though it can apply to many government employees, it is almost exclusively used by police officers.

The bill proposes to no longer allow qualified immunity to be as a defense if a judge finds that an officer’s use of force was unreasonable.

Rep. Bryan Fontenot (R-Thibodaux) tacked on a last-minute amendment that proposes to make citizens pay damages to a police officer if they lose a lawsuit against that officer. Fontenot said he would still not support the bill if his amendment was approved. Lawmakers approved the amendment in a vote along party lines.

The bill now heads to the Senate.

This story will be updated.

The Louisiana Illuminator is an independent, nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization driven by its mission to cast light on how decisions are made in Baton Rouge and how they affect the lives of everyday Louisianians, particularly those who are poor or otherwise marginalized.