Republican Tom McClintock rarely sides with liberal Democrats. Why this issue is different
Rep. Tom McClintock is siding with some of Congress’ most outspoken liberals in an effort to overturn the “qualified immunity” that can protect police and other state and local officials from civil lawsuits.
McClintock, a California Republican who has been urging such reforms for years, has joined Democrats and Libertarian Rep. Justin Amash in backing legislation to eliminate qualified immunity. The House criminal justice reform bill would end qualified immunity, but the Senate version does not.
“Whatever his motive, the killer of George Floyd had 18 complaints for misconduct, and one of his accomplices had six. Why is such misconduct tolerated by big city police departments?” McClintock asked after Floyd, a black man, died while in Minneapolis police custody. Derek Chauvin, the officer who leaned on Floyd’s neck, was named in 18 prior complaints to the Minneapolis Police Department.
“Is it because politically powerful police unions protect the bad apples among them?” McClintock asked. “Is it because the doctrine of qualified immunity shields corrupt officials from accountability for a wide range of crimes?”
His reservation about qualified immunity sounded a lot like the concern of Rep. Ayanna Pressley. The Massachusetts Democrat and member of “The Squad” – four freshmen Democratic liberal women of color under 50 – is a leading sponsor of the effort to end qualified immunity.
“Qualified immunity shields police from accountability, impedes true justice, and undermines the constitutional rights of every person in this country,” Pressley said. “There can be no justice without healing and accountability, and there can be no true accountability with qualified immunity. It’s past time to end qualified immunity, and that’s exactly what this bill does.”
Libertarians have long been clamoring for change on the issue.
Robert McNamara, senior attorney at the libertarian Institute for Justice, said “qualified immunity tells us to look at an injustice, to admit that the injustice violates the Constitution, and then to do nothing about it. Reasonable people rightly rebel at that command.”
McClintock similarly urged change in 2007 when he was a California state senator.
At the time, he was commenting on what became known as the Copley case. The San Diego Union Tribune had sought to learn about a county deputy sheriff’s disciplinary hearing. The California Supreme Court ruled that such hearings are closed, and the public does not have the right to learn about allegations of police misconduct in such circumstances.
“The Copley decision basically said that disciplinary proceedings against police officers are none of the public’s business – even if conducted by a civil service commission under all due process considerations – and even if the charges are proven,” McClintock said at the time.
“In short, once a citizen complains about the misuse of police power, even though the complaint is found to be entirely true – the public has no right to know. That is nuts,” he said.
Democrat Brynne Kennedy, his November general election opponent, called McClintock’s view on qualified immunity “a welcome surprise.” She noted that McClintock, who has a lifetime rating of 98.61% from the American Conservative Union, is one of Congress’ most conservative members.
Kennedy urged him also to support bipartisan efforts to “protect Social Security and Medicare, combat corruption, and lower the cost of prescription drugs.” Supporting such measures as well as more coronavirus relief for the district will be a trust test of bipartisanship, she said.
This story was originally published June 9, 2020 at 1:22 PM.
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