Pol: Let cops face suits in civil courts

ALBANY — A Brooklyn state senator wants to remove a long-standing legal shield that protects police officers from civil suits for on-the-job misconduct.

Sen. Zellnor Myrie (DCrown Heights) is introducing a bill that would change the way police are held accountable in courts by eliminating qualified immunity, which shields public officials like cops from any legal liability, unless the rights they violated were “clearly established, at the state level.

Critics, Myrie included, contend that qualified immunity makes it near impossible to hold cops accountable for wrongful deaths and too often lets police brutality go unpunished.

“Victims of police brutality have been unable to get any sort of relief because at every turn the courts have used the doctrine of qualified immunity to shield officers from liability,” Myrie (inset) told the Daily News. “In the absence of federal action, I think it’s important for New York to step up and show people that we will hold police officers liable for misconduct.”

Even when officers face criminal charges, police can still claim qualified immunity if relatives or victims sue. Proponents argue that the doctrine protects against frivolous lawsuits.

A recent Reuters analysis qualified immunity cases in appellate courts from 2015 to 2019 and found that in more than half of the 252 cases where police were accused of using excessive force, the courts granted police qualified immunity.

The analysis also found dozens of cases in which immunity protected police who had allegedly engaged in unlawful misconduct.

Colorado last week enacted a law that permits individuals to bring claims against cops who violate their constitutional rights under state law, sidestepping qualified immunity.