Protest Works
By 
The Colorado legislature has passed a sweeping criminal justice reform bill, including the abolition of qualified immunity, and it’s been signed into law:
The bill proposed to end qualified immunity for law enforcement officers — which effectively has shielded them from personal liability for their professional actions — and to require prompter release of body-worn camera footage. The final version also bans chokeholds and carotid holds; introduces potential criminal charges for officers who fail to try to stop colleagues from using excessive force; creates a public database of officers who have been decertified, fired, found to be untruthful or in violation of training standards; and significantly increases citizen protections from police tear gas and projectiles.
The bill was introduced June 3, and by then all Democrats in the legislature had promised to support it. That alone would’ve been enough to carry the bill, since Democrats hold majorities in both the House and Senate.
But the sponsors picked up substantial Republican backing along the way, especially in the Senate. Ultimately the bill received “no” votes from just 15 of the 100 state lawmakers.
By June 15, just before the legislative session ended, the bill was on its way to the governor, who chose the morning of June 19 — Juneteenth, a commemoration of the end of U.S. slavery — to make it state law.
Polis said he was proud to sign it.
“Things cannot go back to normal,” he said. “We need to create a new normal where black Americans feel safe … and where black lives matter.”
In just 16 days, SB-217 went from a big, radical idea to a historic new law. That’s nearly unheard of in state government.
It’s really quite remarkable.
Meanwhile, here’s a 6CA case which is a good reminder of the damage the judicially-invented doctrine of qualified immunity has wrought:
6th Circuit, per Bush, holds no QI for cops who tased & pepper-sprayed black man in his car, then arrested him for drugs w/o apparent evidence. And don't miss ruling there's Monell liability based on Chris Rock video & this image from police training.https://t.co/NjEzBL3ZGR #N pic.twitter.com/BbHlUAkSiO— Orin Kerr (@OrinKerr) June 19, 2020
CC: @radleybalko @JCSchwartzProf @AdamSerwer
1st page of the op gives a good overview. Also somewhat interesting that the opinion is authored by a Trump appointee, John K. Bush, although it's a unanimous panel. pic.twitter.com/NK436oofKw— Orin Kerr (@OrinKerr) June 19, 2020
Amazing how when you announce that officers will not be held liable for virtually any mis conduct they will have graphics of policemen beating civilians in their official training manuals.
I don’t want to overestimate the progress here — it took more than three months for even one of the cops who murdered Breonna Taylor to even be fired — but the mass protests that have followed the lynching of George Floyd are clearly having a major impact.