Should we Reform Qualified Immunity?

Qualified immunity is a type of legal immunity that shields government officials from lawsuits that state that the defendant violated the plaintiffs rights. It does not apply in cases where a defendant's “clearly established” rights are violated. The law is in place to protect officials from “harassment, destraction, and liability when they perform their duties reasonably.” The defendant is judged on whether an action was reasonable given the specific situation and whether the defendant could have reasonably known that they were violating a “clearly established” constitutional right. (Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute )