3.0.0 3415 2022-12-30T03:34:00Z 2022-12-30T03:34:00Z Senate S 2021-12-16 117 ssju00 Judiciary Committee Senate Standing Referred to 2021-12-16T19:01:20Z Constitutional Accountability Act 117 6327 HR 2022-11-01 Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security. Identical bill CRS 2021-12-16 ssju00 Judiciary Committee Senate Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. IntroReferral 2021-12-16 Introduced in Senate IntroReferral 10000 9 Library of Congress W000802 Sen. Whitehouse, Sheldon [D-RI] Sheldon Whitehouse D RI N Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues Civil actions and liability Constitution and constitutional amendments Government liability Law enforcement administration and funding Law enforcement officers State and local government operations Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues 00 2021-12-16 Introduced in Senate 2022-06-07T17:36:42Z Constitutional Accountability Act

This bill extends civil liability to federal, state, and local government entities and officials for constitutional violations committed by law enforcement officers.

Current law provides a statutory civil cause of action against state and local government actors (e.g., law enforcement) for violations of constitutional rights (also known as Section 1983 lawsuits); the Supreme Court has also found an implied cause of action against federal law enforcement officers in certain situations (e.g., Fourth Amendment violations).

However, under the judicial doctrine of qualified immunity, government officials performing discretionary duties are generally shielded from civil liability except when their actions violate clearly established rights of which a reasonable person would have known. Additionally, under the doctrine of sovereign immunity, federal and state government entities generally cannot be sued without their consent. Further, the Supreme Court has held that a local government entity cannot be sued for an injury inflicted by its employees.

The bill provides a statutory civil cause of action against and extends liability to federal, state, and local government entities and officials for violations of constitutional rights committed by law enforcement officers in their employment, regardless of any immunity that would otherwise apply.

]]> Constitutional Accountability Act Display Title Constitutional Accountability Act Short Title(s) as Introduced Constitutional Accountability Act Introduced in Senate IS Official Title as Introduced A bill to ensure that the United States, States, and local governments are liable for monetary damages for constitutional violations by law enforcement officers. Introduced in Senate IS Introduced in Senate 2021-12-16T05:00:00Z https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BILLS-117s3415is/xml/BILLS-117s3415is.xml 2021-12-16 Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain. Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress This file contains bill summaries and statuses for federal legislation. A bill summary describes the most significant provisions of a piece of legislation and details the effects the legislative text may have on current law and federal programs. Bill summaries are authored by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) of the Library of Congress. As stated in Public Law 91-510 (2 USC 166 (d)(6)), one of the duties of CRS is "to prepare summaries and digests of bills and resolutions of a public general nature introduced in the Senate or House of Representatives". For more information, refer to the User Guide that accompanies this file.