George Floyd case revives 'qualified immunity' debate, as Supreme Court could soon take up issue

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The death of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer has done more than just trigger massive protests and riots -- it's brought a simmering debate on "qualified immunity" for government officials to a veritable boil, and there's a chance the Supreme Court could accept a case on the issue in the near future.

Qualified immunity is a concept developed by the Supreme Court that gives government officials immunity from harms caused by their actions under a wide range of circumstances that may happen as they perform their official duties. It was described in a 1982 Supreme Court case as reflecting "the need to protect officials who are required to exercise discretion and the related public interest in encouraging the vigorous exercise of official authority."

But the concept has come under attack in recent years, especially in libertarian-leaning legal circles, as essentially giving government officials a free pass to violate peoples' rights without facing legal recourse. The libertarian Cato Institute's vice president, Clark Neily, described it as "our near-zero-accountability policy for law enforcement," in a blog post Wednesday reacting to Floyd's death.