Bill Text: NJ A4578 | 2020-2021 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Establishes certain restrictions on qualified immunity defense for public employees.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-08-25 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee [A4578 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2020-A4578-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman BENJIE E. WIMBERLY
District 35 (Bergen and Passaic)
SYNOPSIS
Establishes certain restrictions on qualified immunity defense for public employees.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning liability of public employees and amending P.L.2004, c.143 and R.S.59:3-3.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 2 of P.L.2004, c.143 (C.10:6-2) is amended to read as follows:
2. a. If a person, whether or not acting under color of law, subjects or causes to be subjected any other person to the deprivation of any substantive due process or equal protection rights, privileges or immunities secured by the Constitution or laws of the United States, or any substantive rights, privileges or immunities secured by the Constitution or laws of this State, the Attorney General may bring a civil action for damages and for injunctive or other appropriate relief. The civil action shall be brought in the name of the State and may be brought on behalf of the injured party. If the Attorney General proceeds with and prevails in an action brought pursuant to this subsection, the court shall order the distribution of any award of damages to the injured party and shall award reasonable attorney's fees and costs to the Attorney General. The penalty provided in subsection e. of this section shall be applicable to a violation of this subsection.
b. If a person, whether or not acting under color of law, interferes or attempts to interfere by threats, intimidation or coercion with the exercise or enjoyment by any other person of any substantive due process or equal protection rights, privileges or immunities secured by the Constitution or laws of the United States, or any substantive rights, privileges or immunities secured by the Constitution or laws of this State, the Attorney General may bring a civil action for damages and for injunctive or other appropriate relief. The civil action shall be brought in the name of the State and may be brought on behalf of the injured party. If the Attorney General proceeds with and prevails in an action brought pursuant to this subsection, the court shall order the distribution of any award of damages to the injured party and shall award reasonable attorney's fees and costs to the Attorney General. The penalty provided in subsection e. of this section shall be applicable to a violation of this subsection.
c. Any person who has been deprived of any substantive due process or equal protection rights, privileges or immunities secured by the Constitution or laws of the United States, or any substantive rights, privileges or immunities secured by the Constitution or laws of this State, or whose exercise or enjoyment of those substantive rights, privileges or immunities has been interfered with or attempted to be interfered with, by threats, intimidation or coercion by a person acting under color of law, may bring a civil action for damages and for injunctive or other appropriate relief. The penalty provided in subsection e. of this section shall be applicable to a violation of this subsection.
d. (1) An action brought pursuant to this act may be filed in Superior Court. Upon application of any party, a jury trial shall be directed.
(2) In a cause of action for the unjustified use of force or deadly force in violation of N.J.S.2C:3-7 or a violation of this act the burden of proof shall be on the public employee or employer to demonstrate that the public employee or employer did not violate a clearly established constitutional or statutory right.
e. Any person who deprives, interferes or attempts to interfere by threats, intimidation or coercion with the exercise or enjoyment by any other person of any substantive due process or equal protection rights, privileges or immunities secured by the Constitution or laws of the United States, or any substantive rights, privileges or immunities secured by the Constitution or laws of this State is liable for a civil penalty for each violation. The court or jury, as the case may be, shall determine the appropriate amount of the penalty. Any money collected by the court in payment of a civil penalty shall be conveyed to the State Treasurer for deposit into the State General Fund.
f. In addition to any damages, civil penalty, injunction or other appropriate relief awarded in an action brought pursuant to subsection c. of this section, the court may award the prevailing party reasonable attorney's fees and costs.
(cf: P.L.2004, c.143, s.2)
2. R.S.59:3-3 is amended to read as follows:
a. A public employee is not liable if he acts in good faith in the execution or enforcement of any law.
b. Nothing in this section [exonerates] shall exonerate a public employee from liability for:
(1) false arrest or false imprisonment; or
(2) unjustified use of force or deadly force in violation of N.J.S.2C:3-7 or the use of force guidelines promulgated by the Attorney General.
c. It shall not be a defense pursuant to this section with respect to any cause of action for unjustified use of force or deadly force in violation of N.J.S.2C:3-7 or a violation of the "New Jersey Civil Rights Act," P.L.2004, c.143 (C.10:6-1 et seq.), that the plaintiff's rights, privileges, or immunities were not clearly established at the time of their deprivation.
(cf: PL.1972, c. 45, s.3)
3. This act shall take
effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill places certain restrictions on the qualified immunity doctrine which shields public employees, including law enforcement officers, from civil liability.
Under the qualified immunity doctrine, public employees are immune from civil liability when their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known. In determining whether a public employee is entitled to qualified immunity, a court is required to inquire whether: (1) the facts, taken in the light most favorable to the party asserting the injury, show the public employee's conduct violated a constitutional right; and (2) that constitutional right was clearly established at the time that the defendant acted.
This bill places the burden on public employees or employers in a cause of action for violations of the "New Jersey Civil Rights Act" and the unjustified use of force or deadly force to demonstrate that the public employee or employer did not violate a clearly established constitutional or statutory right. In addition, the bill provides that public employees and employers are not immune from civil liability for unjustified use of force or deadly force or violations of the use of force guidelines for law enforcement officers promulgated by the Attorney General. The bill prohibits public employees and employers from invoking a defense that the plaintiff's rights, privileges, or immunities were not clearly established at the time of their deprivation in causes of action for unjustified use of force or violations of the "New Jersey Civil Rights Act."
