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Colorado passed legislation allowing police officers who violate people’s civil rights to be held personally responsible in state court after Elijah McClain, a 23-year-old massage therapist, was stopped while walking home from a store. Officers responded to a 911 call from someone claiming a Black man “looked sketchy.” When McClain asked the officers to leave him in peace, they used chokeholds to pin him to the ground and had him injected with a powerful sedative. As the unarmed, handcuffed man vomited and begged for his life, police threatened to sic a dog on him. McClain suffered a heart attack while being transported to the hospital and died six days later.

Colorado’s new law bars police from using qualified immunity in such circumstances, but the change is drawing fire from police unions, which say qualified immunity is essential to protect their members from being sued for doing their jobs, and from some local governments which fear it will hurt their abilities to recruit and retain officers. At least one insurance company is trying to come up with a plan that would protect cops from having to make personal payments if they lose in state court.

In addition to prohibiting the defense of qualified immunity, the law also says that if officers lose in state court, they may have to pay 5 percent of damages, up to $25,000, of their own money. The state can also revoke an officer’s certifications, banishing them from any local policing job in the state, if a criminal or civil court finds them liable for using too much force. Cops who fail to intervene when colleagues use excessive force can also lose their badges.

The law was designed to make sure victims of police violence like McClain’s family have an easy path for payouts. It is designed to make it easier to remove abusive cops from the profession by revoking their certification.

We would like to thank The Marshall Project for the content. Click HERE to view the original comprehensive article.