A 850 New Jersey General Assembly · 2024-2025 Regular Session

Eliminates qualified immunity and sovereign immunity in certain cases.

New Jersey Assembly Bill A850 would eliminate qualified immunity and sovereign immunity as defenses in civil rights lawsuits against law enforcement officers and public entities under the state's Civil Rights Act. This means officers and government bodies (like police departments or municipalities) can no longer avoid liability by claiming they acted in good faith or that constitutional rights were unclear at the time of the alleged violation. The bill specifically applies to claims involving false arrest, false imprisonment, or unjustified use of force - already prohibited under New Jersey law. It does not eliminate other forms of immunity (such as judicial immunity) or affect the requirement for public employees to act in good faith in non-civil rights cases.
Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2024
Committee Review
Floor Vote
Governor
Introduced Jan 9, 2024 Last action Jan 9, 2024
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Jan 9, 2024
Introduced
Introduced in the Assembly, Referred to Assembly Public Safety and Preparedness Committee
lower
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Photo of Verlina Reynolds-Jackson
Verlina Reynolds-Jackson
DDemocratic
NJ
15