House votes to expand police immunity after lengthy debate

Law enforcement officers in Alabama could soon have even further protection from criminal prosecution and civil liability under legislation passed by lawmakers in the Alabama House of Representatives Thursday.

HB202 by Rep. Rex Reynolds, R-Huntsville, protects police from charges unless it can be shown that they acted outside of the scope of their discretionary authority and that they violated the victim’s Constitutional rights.

Democrat lawmakers spent three hours Thursday attacking the bill, arguing that it gives police practically carte blanche when acting in the line of duty.

“It’s never been a good idea in American history to lower standards, but decrease accountability,” said Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, during debate over the bill. “And that’s one of the things that this bill attempts to do. I think we can establish that we all support police officers, but our job here is to also support the common citizen as well.”

England and others said the bill will create the image that police cannot be held accountable for anything, although Reynolds continually defended the bill by arguing that officers acting outside of the scope of their duties would not have the privilege of immunity.

Many Black lawmakers shared stories of their own encounters with police or their constituents’ encounters to illustrate the background of the fear that the bill will allow bad cops off the hook.

Debate on the bill lasted three hours after Democrats chided House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter, R-Rainsville, for not recognizing their requests to speak on the calendar.

Typically, Democrats have been given one hour to discuss the calendar before being given two hours to debate a controversial bill.

Reynolds said the bill could help the state recruit and retain officers and protects them in hard situations.

““I think everything we talked about in this bill for our law enforcement officers to feel that authority, that when it comes down to discretionary authority, and they’ve got a split second decision to make a call, that we just focus on that,” Reynolds said.

The bill would create a pre-trial hearing for a judge to determine whether the officer qualifies for immunity in the case. An amendment to the bill requires a decision within 45 days. The officer could continue to argue immunity all the way to the Supreme Court if denied in that hearing.

England said that pre-trial hearing creates a hurdle for prosecutors, who will now have to try to find someone to testify to whether an officer’s actions fall within the scope of their discretionary authority, and then try to illustrate whether the defendant’s rights were violated.

The bill passed 75-26 along party lines and now heads to the Senate for further deliberation.