Proposed Bill to Allow Citizens to Sue Federal Law Enforcement Agencies, Personnel for Constitutional Rights Violations
In late December, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI) introduced the Constitutional Accountability Act. In the proposed legislation, citizens would be able to sue the United States, federal agencies, and federal law enforcement for violations of constitutional rights. Senator Whitehouse and Rep. Cicilline intend for the legislation to root our misconduct and provide incentives for state, local, and federal law enforcement agencies to improve training, supervision, and discipline.
Currently, 42 USC 1983 allows citizens to sue individual state actors for violating constitutional rights and, in limited circumstances when certain factors are met, state and local governments for the actions of employees who violate constitutional rights. The Supreme Court has also recognized circumstances under which citizens can sue federal officials through Bivens actions.
The proposed bill would expand citizen’s access to civil suits by removing the test for achieving a cause of action against state and local governments and codifying Bivens suits against federal law enforcement officers. The bill creates a statutory cause of action against state and local governments, the United States as a sovereign entity, federal agencies, and individual federal law enforcement officers for violations of constitutional rights. The bill announcement came just two weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected certiorari on Petitioner Erik Egbert’s request for the Court to reverse Bivens, which James P. Garay Heelan, Senior Counsel at Shaw Bransford & Roth, discussed previously in a case law update.
Federal agencies would be liable for the actions of their employees regardless of whether those employees acted within the scope of their employment.
“As we work towards a fairer and more just policing system, we must be able to hold police departments and government agencies that oversee law enforcement accountable,” Rep. Cicilline stated, “For too long these agencies and governments — who employ, train, and oversee their officers — have been immune from lawsuits even in cases of egregious constitutional violations by their employees. Removing immunity for these types of violations will incentivize agencies to take a hard look at their policies and make the changes that Americans deserve, as well as promote a fairer system in our courtrooms.”
Lawmakers claim the current law and Court precedents leave “gaps” for employees to go unpunished and provide little recourse for citizens whose rights have been violated.