Utah State Senator Wayne Harper introduced a resolution earlier this year supporting qualified immunity. While the resolution ultimately failed to pass, it made several misleading arguments that are commonly used to support the doctrine. These arguments mirror those made across the country by qualified immunity proponents, but are they accurate? The facts say otherwise.
Among the resolution’s most questionable statements was the assertion that “qualified immunity applies to public safety workers in narrow and well-defined circumstances.” Calling the circumstances in which qualified immunity applies narrow and well-defined is like calling Mount Everest a small hill. Qualified immunity prevents victims from holding
