Eye On Illinois: ‘Bad Apple’ reform might be too hot on heels of earlier legislation

We still have police officers, right?

House Bill 3653 has been law for more than a month. Republican lawmakers and law enforcement organizations decried the legislation as “anti-police” and “a “blatant move to punish an entire, honorable profession.” Some predicted catastrophe: widespread crime activity and professional defections, but so far it seems to be business as usual in Illinois.

To be fair, it has only been a few weeks. No serious analysis of the implications of sweeping reforms can be made so quickly, especially since part of HB 3653′s impact will only be fully realized once its Task Force on Constitutional Rights and Remedies finishes, or when we complete the two-year window to develop uniform standards for pretrial release.

Yet it’s worth remembering those arguments because they’re sure to resurface as the full House debates House Bill 1727, the Bad Apples in Law Enforcement Act, which last week advanced from the House Restorative Justice Committee.

According to Capitol News Illinois, the proposal ends the legal doctrine of qualified immunity — paving the way for civil litigation for certain on-the-job actions, including for officers who don’t intervene to prevent deprivation of rights — while also requiring municipalities to disclose information about settlements with police officers.

Qualified immunity is legally complex, though basic arguments on both sides are clear. From the police standpoint, certain protections are needed to work a job no layperson can fully comprehend. In the rare situations where officers must make immediate life-or-death decisions, they need to rely on training and instinct, not a mental checklist of liability.

Laypeople, even criminal suspects, need to have a degree of comfort that police officers always act within the color of the law, and that if they do suffer a deprivation of civil rights, there is some legal recourse.

Lawmakers, of course, are accountable to both groups and must balance competing interests. The groups themselves are fluid, as police go off duty, and taxpayers ultimately foot the bill when a court enters judgment against a government body. It’s a trite conclusion, but this situation is the textbook example of the notion that if a perfect solution existed, we’d already have it in place.

A sound perspective comes from Rep. Patrick Windhorst, R-Metropolis, who said this package isn’t timely because of police decertification legislation already enacted and the fact the constitutional rights task force is just getting started. Given the strong resistance to HB 3653 before amendments made it narrowly passable, HB 1727 might prove too controversial as written.

I don’t fault reformers trying to improve conditions for constituents demanding action. Oppositional rhetoric is unsurprising. Bad apples are unacceptable, but this new proposal is a tough sell with so much unsettled from the last reform.

• Scott T. Holland writes about state government issues for Shaw Local News Network. Follow him on Twitter at @sth749. He can be reached at sholland@shawmedia.com.