No state has abolished qualified immunity for federal lawsuits under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, because states cannot change federal law. Instead, Colorado and New Mexico created state-law civil-rights claims in which qualified immunity is not a defense, and New York City did the same through a city law. Connecticut created a new state-law claim against police officers but reworked its governmental immunity rules rather than eliminating them. Everywhere else, the federal doctrine and existing state immunities still govern.
After the summer of 2020, “ending qualified immunity” became a slogan, and slogans travel faster than statutes. Search for which states have done it and you will find lists that lump together very different laws, some of which abolished nothing. This reference sorts out what each jurisdiction actually enacted, using the text of the laws themselves.
Key takeaways
- A state cannot change federal qualified immunity; it can only create its own claim where the defense does not apply.
- Colorado’s claim runs against individual peace officers, bars qualified immunity, and makes officers personally pay up to 5 percent of a judgment or $25,000 in limited cases.
- New Mexico’s Civil Rights Act runs against public bodies, not individual employees, bars qualified immunity, and caps liability per claimant.
- Connecticut’s 2020 law created a new claim against police but reworked immunity rather than abolishing it.
- New York City’s Local Law 48 is a city law, not a state law, covering searches, seizures, and excessive force by police.
I.What a state can and cannot change
Qualified immunity is a defense the U.S. Supreme Court created for lawsuits under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, the federal statute that lets people sue state and local officials for violating federal rights. Because both the statute and the defense are federal, only Congress or the Supreme Court can change how they work. A state legislature that passes a law saying “qualified immunity is abolished” would have no effect on a federal § 1983 case.
What a state controls is its own law. It can create a state-law cause of action for violations of rights in its own constitution, decide who can be sued under it, decide which defenses are available, and decide who pays. That is what every reform on this list does. The practical consequence is that a person in a reform state may have two kinds of claims: a federal one, where qualified immunity still applies, and a state one, where it may not. Which claim to bring, in which court, is a question for a lawyer.
II.Colorado: a claim against the officer, with skin in the game
The law at a glance
- Law
- Senate Bill 20-217, Enhance Law Enforcement Integrity; civil action codified at C.R.S. § 13-21-131
- Signed
- June 19, 2020
- Who can be sued
- Peace officers, individually
- Rights covered
- Rights secured by the bill of rights of the Colorado constitution
- Qualified immunity
- Not a defense
Colorado’s law lets a person whose rights under the Colorado constitution’s bill of rights are infringed by a peace officer sue that officer, and it states plainly that qualified immunity is not a defense. A plaintiff who prevails is entitled to reasonable attorney fees, and an individual defendant can recover fees for defending frivolous claims.
Colorado also addressed who pays. Local governments must indemnify their officers, with two important twists. If the officer’s employer determines that the officer did not act on a good-faith and reasonable belief that the action was lawful, the officer is personally liable for 5 percent of the judgment or $25,000, whichever is less; if that share cannot be collected, the employer pays the whole judgment. And a public entity does not have to indemnify an officer who was convicted of a crime for the conduct at issue. We look at why that personal share matters in our explainer on whether officers pay for misconduct suits.
III.New Mexico: a claim against the government
New Mexico’s Civil Rights Act, House Bill 4, was signed on April 7, 2021, as Chapter 119 of that year’s session laws, after passing the House 39–29 and the Senate 26–15. It took a different design from Colorado’s. Claims are brought exclusively against a “public body,” a term that includes state and local governments, agencies, and school districts, which is liable for the conduct of the people who act on its behalf. Individual employees are not the defendants.
The act provides that qualified immunity is not available as a defense to claims under it. It also caps a public body’s liability at $2 million per claimant for an occurrence, with annual cost-of-living adjustments that cannot go down. A court may award a prevailing plaintiff reasonable attorney fees and costs. Claims must be brought within three years, and the act does not reach claims arising solely from acts before July 1, 2021, its effective date. The law also preserves judicial, legislative, and other established immunities, so it is not a blanket waiver of every defense.
New Mexico’s law is broader than policing; it covers public bodies generally. But because the government, not the officer, is the defendant, it does nothing directly about individual accountability. That is a deliberate tradeoff, and reasonable reformers disagree about it.
IV.Connecticut: narrowed, not abolished
Connecticut’s police accountability law, Public Act 20-1 (House Bill 6004), was signed by Gov. Ned Lamont in the summer of 2020. Among many provisions on use of force and training, it created a new state-law cause of action against police officers, now codified at Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-571k, which the statutes title an “action for equitable relief or damages resulting from deprivation of equal protection of the laws of the state committed by a police officer.”
Connecticut did not abolish immunity. Contemporary reporting by Connecticut Public described the change as an update to governmental immunity, and officers remain indemnified unless their conduct is found to be malicious, willful, and wanton. The state’s police transparency and accountability task force was asked to keep studying the immunity language. Anyone describing Connecticut as having “ended qualified immunity” is overstating what the law did.
V.New York City: a city law, not a state law
New York City’s Local Law 48 of 2021, introduced as Int. 2220-A, is the only reform on this list passed by a city council. The Council passed it on March 25, 2021, and the mayor returned it unsigned on April 26, 2021. It added a new chapter to the city’s Administrative Code, §§ 8-801 through 8-807, creating a local right to be secure against unreasonable searches and seizures and against excessive force, including force not connected to a search or seizure.
The law applies to “covered individuals,” meaning employees of the police department and certain special patrolmen, and it reaches conduct “including through failure to intervene.” The employer of a covered individual is also liable for that individual’s conduct. Section 8-804 provides that it is not a defense that a covered individual has qualified immunity. A prevailing plaintiff may recover compensatory damages and, in the court’s discretion, punitive damages, or may elect $1,000 in damages instead, along with reasonable attorney’s fees and costs. The limitation period is three years, and exhausting administrative remedies is not required.
VI.Side by side
| Jurisdiction | Law | Who can be sued | QI defense | Damages and fees |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colorado | SB 20-217; C.R.S. § 13-21-131 | Individual peace officers | Barred | Indemnification required; officer pays up to 5% or $25,000 if not in good faith; fees to prevailing plaintiff |
| New Mexico | Civil Rights Act (HB 4) | Public bodies only | Barred | $2 million cap per claimant, cost-of-living adjusted; fees at court’s discretion; three-year limit |
| Connecticut | Public Act 20-1; Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-571k | Police officers | Limited, not barred | Officers indemnified unless conduct is malicious, willful, and wanton |
| New York City | Local Law 48 of 2021; Admin. Code §§ 8-801 to 8-807 | NYPD employees, certain special patrolmen, and their employer | Barred | Compensatory and discretionary punitive damages, or $1,000; fees and costs; three-year limit |
VII.If your state is not on the list
Where a state has not created a claim like these, people generally have only the federal § 1983 route, with qualified immunity intact, plus whatever existing state tort law and state immunity rules allow. The reforms above show that a legislature has real choices: sue the officer or the government, bar the defense or narrow it, cap damages or not, and decide how much, if anything, an officer pays personally.
Those are policy decisions, and they are made by state legislators. Before your legislature’s next session, find out who represents you through the directory of state legislature websites and ask where they stand. Congress, meanwhile, could change the federal doctrine itself, which we cover in our look at the Ending Qualified Immunity Act and other bills.
Frequently asked questions
Has any state abolished qualified immunity?
No state can abolish qualified immunity in federal Section 1983 cases, because it is federal law. Colorado and New Mexico created state-law claims in which qualified immunity is not a defense, and New York City did the same through a city law.
Does Colorado’s law apply in federal court?
Colorado’s law creates a claim under state law for violations of the Colorado constitution. It does not change qualified immunity for federal claims under Section 1983.
Can you sue an individual officer under New Mexico’s Civil Rights Act?
No. Claims under the New Mexico Civil Rights Act are brought exclusively against public bodies, which are liable for the conduct of the people acting on their behalf.
Did Connecticut end qualified immunity?
No. Connecticut’s 2020 police accountability law created a new state-law claim against police officers but reworked immunity rules rather than eliminating them, and officers remain indemnified unless their conduct is malicious, willful, and wanton.
Is New York City’s law a state law?
No. Local Law 48 of 2021 is a New York City law. It covers NYPD employees and certain special patrolmen, and it says qualified immunity is not a defense to claims under it.
Editorial note: This reference is built from the enacted laws and reporting listed below. Laws change; check the current text before relying on any provision. It is journalism and advocacy, not legal advice. If you believe your rights were violated, talk to a licensed civil-rights attorney in your state. Corrections: contact the editor.