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Policing in 2020 and Beyond: Legal Issues


September 25, 2020 – During this year’s special legislative session, lawmakers approved a plan to create a new civil rights commission. One of the tasks of that group is to study the issue of qualified immunity, which makes it hard to bring legal action against corrupt officers and their employers. Host Gene Grant talks to legal experts on how exactly qualified immunity works and what reform opportunities there may be in the coming years.


Host/Correspondent: Gene Grant

Guests:
Alfred Mathewson, Professor Emeritus, UNM Law School
Marshal Ray, Criminal Defense & Civil Rights Lawyer
Peter Simonson, Executive Director, ACLU New Mexico

Suggested Reading:
What is qualified immunity, and what does it have to do with police reformLawFare
Frequently asked questions about ending qualified immunity – Institute for Justice
Supreme Court Weighs Qualified Immunity For Police Accused Of MisconductNPR
What police reform efforts happened, and didn’t happen, during the special sessionNM Political Report