LAS CRUCES – The Doña Ana County Commission unanimously voted Tuesday against a bill in state law banning qualified immunity as a defense against civil rights claims and allowing people to litigate government agencies in state courts.
The commissioners agreed with district officials and a district association lawyer that the bill could induce local governments to pay massive legal damages.
House Bill 4, also known as the New Mexico Civil Rights Act, would allow people to sue government agencies who they believe have violated their “rights, privileges, or immunities” under the state constitution. It would preclude qualified immunity, a defense instituted in federal court that protects government officials from personal liability for violations of an individual’s civil rights.
Qualified immunity is a legal doctrine that protects a government official from filing a lawsuit when there is no evidence that he has violated “clearly defined” legal or constitutional rights. It must be established that the officer reasonably knew that he was violating a plaintiff’s rights.
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Proponents of the bill point out how qualified immunity has been used to protect police officers from accountability for allegedly violating someone’s rights.
A civil rights commission formed by the state last summer in response to widespread protests against police brutality and wrongdoing called on lawmakers to end qualified immunity for civil servants and other officials by 5-4 votes.
The county is one of dozens of local governments who have spoken out against the law, arguing it will lead to higher insurance costs and expensive lawsuits. The county and the critics say there are already legal remedies for citizens whose rights have been violated by the police, such as the Tort Act.
“We were disappointed to see that the (Civil Rights) Commission itself wasn’t really focused on root cause solutions or accountability solutions,” Grace Philips, general counsel for the New Mexico Association of Counties, told commissioners. “This new law, at least with regard to law enforcement, does not add a new cause of action, but makes the existing cases more expensive.”
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A revised HB 4 made it 8-4 on Monday from the House Justice Committee, and there could be a vote in the House this week. The amended bill limits the damage to $ 2 million and only allows individuals to sue government agencies instead of individual employees.
Philips argued that even the replacement bill had problems.
“As written, we are very concerned that this bill will do more harm than good,” she said.
Philips mainly claimed that the damage cap is not the best solution as it is just a cap on each claim. She said she feared cases with multiple claims, claimants or defendants could still cost local governments many millions of dollars. She also argued the cap was too high.
“It’s really not a cap at all,” said Philips. “A sensible cap and a thoughtful crowd, I think, are really very important.”
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Commission chairman Manny Sanchez, a Democrat who represents District 5, said the bill was “deceptive” because no one would “want to vote against civil rights”. He said he believed the bill did not achieve the change he wanted – police reform – and was more of a “reactive measure”.
“Litigating changes after something has already happened doesn’t give us the change I think people are looking for,” said Sanchez.
The bill is also opposed by County Sheriff Kim Stewart, Third District Attorney Gerald Byers, and County Treasurer Eric Rodriguez.
The county’s resolution urges state lawmakers to instead address what the county poses as the leading cause of government and law enforcement claims by investing in better behavioral and substance abuse treatment and the New Mexico Law Enforcement Academy improve.
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Michael McDevitt is a city and county government reporter for Sun News. He can be reached at 575-202-3205, [email protected], or @MikeMcDTweets on Twitter.
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