[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7046 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 7046
To amend the Revised Statutes to remove the defense of qualified
immunity in the case of any action under section 1979, and for other
purposes.
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IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 13, 2026
Ms. Pressley (for herself, Ms. Omar, and Ms. Simon) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
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A BILL
To amend the Revised Statutes to remove the defense of qualified
immunity in the case of any action under section 1979, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Qualified Immunity Abolition Act of
2026''.
SEC. 2. REMOVAL OF QUALIFIED IMMUNITY.
Section 1979 of the Revised Statutes (42 U.S.C. 1983) is amended--
(1) by inserting ``(a)'' before ``Every person''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(b) It shall not be a defense to any action brought against a
Federal, State, or local law enforcement officer that is pending on, or
filed after, the date of enactment of this subsection that, at the time
of the deprivation--
``(1) the defendant was acting in good faith;
``(2) the defendant believed, reasonably or otherwise, that
his or her conduct was lawful;
``(3) the rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the
Constitution and laws were not clearly established; or
``(4) the state of the law was such that the defendant
could not reasonably have been expected to know whether his or
her conduct was lawful.''.
SEC. 3. CIVIL ACTION AGAINST FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS ACTING
UNDER FEDERAL AUTHORITY.
Subsection (a) of section 1979 of the Revised Statutes (42 U.S.C.
1983), as so designated by section 4 of this Act, is amended by
inserting ``and every Federal law enforcement officer who, under color
of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage of the United
States,'' before ``subjects''.
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