Ala. Senate Passes 'Back the Blue' Bill Expanding Police Immunity

A bill to expand Alabama law on legal immunity for police officers passed in the final half-hour of the annual legislative session on Wednesday night.

HB202 by Rep. Rex Reynolds, a former Huntsville police chief, is a priority for Gov. Kay Ivey and Republican leaders in the House of Representatives.

The bill would rewrite Alabama’s law on police immunity from criminal prosecutions and from civil lawsuits.

Lawmakers have hashed out the bill in public hearings and when the House passed the bill after a three-hour debate in March. It has undergone changes.

But Republicans and Democrats remained on opposite sides.

On Wednesday night, the Republican majority in the Senate voted to end the debate on the bill shortly after 10 p.m., more than an hour into the discussion.

The Senate passed it by a vote of 25-6. That sent it back to the House.

At about 11:35 p.m., the House passed the bill 73-28.

That sends it to Ivey, who can sign it into law.

Reynolds and other supporters of the legislation say the legal protections are needed at a time when cities are struggling to hire and retain cops because of concerns that they will be accused of wrongdoing for split-second decisions that sometimes involve life and death.

Democrats have opposed the bill saying it will make it harder to hold police accountable.

Sen. Lance Bell, R- St. Clair County, handled the bill Wednesday night on the Senate floor.

Bell introduced a new version of the bill Wednesday night.

Bell, an attorney and former deputy sheriff, said the bill would clarify the law on immunity and would reduce frivolous lawsuits.

Bell said it would not protect police who act outside the scope of their jobs.

“To me this is about protecting them while they’re protecting us,” Bell said.

Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D- Birmingham, repeated assertions he made in committee, calling the bill “a license to kill Black people.”

Smitherman is an attorney who taught constitutional law for 25 years.

Smitherman said Black people are at risk of bad decisions by police who are scared or actions by cops who are racist.

“We as a people don’t get the benefit of the doubt at all,” Smitherman said.

Turning to his Black Senate colleagues to help make his point, Smitherman urged them to be cautious driving home after the Senate adjourns.

“Be careful, because you’re going to be DWB. Driving while Black,“ Smitherman said.

Smitherman repeated a story he has told before on the Senate floor, describing when he was stopped by a police officer in Montgomery even though he was driving below the speed limit.

The senator said the officer approached his car with his hand on his gun and gave him conflicting instructions, telling him to hold out his hands while also asking him to pull out his driver license.

Smitherman said the story was an example of how Black people can be at risk if they are not cautious during their encounters with police.

Sen. Robert Stewart, D- Selma, questioned the need for the bill and said it would erode public trust.

Stewart brought up the scandal in the Hanceville Police Department.

A grand jury indicted a former police chief and several officers and said the department should be abolished because of a “culture of corruption.”

Stewart said he supports police.

“But to have power unchecked, that is unacceptable in a democracy,” Stewart said.

Democratic Sens. Kirk Hatcher of Montgomery and Merika Coleman of Pleasant Grover also spoke in opposition to the bill.

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