Amherst County officials oppose proposed laws on ending immunity for law enforcement | Hottest Headlines
Amherst County officers are formally expressing opposition to proposed legislation in the recent Virginia Basic Assembly session aimed at ending capable sovereign immunity for regulation enforcement officers, a protect in opposition to civil lawsuits.
Jimmy Ayers, of the Amherst County Board of Supervisors, in the course of the board’s Jan. 19 meeting asked for the county compose the state legislature to oppose Home Monthly bill 2045, proposed by Del. Jeffrey Bourne, D-Richmond. The monthly bill, in accordance to its draft language, seeks to produce a civil action for the deprivation of a person’s rights by a law enforcement officer and supplies that a plaintiff could be awarded compensatory and punitive damages and equitable reduction, as nicely as acceptable attorney expenses and expenses.
The Judiciary Committee in September 2020 rejected preceding laws on the matter. Home Monthly bill 2045 was pre-submitted and referred to the Committee for Courts and Justice Jan. 12, in accordance to the state’s legislative tracking website.
Ayers, a former Amherst County sheriff who retired just prior to getting a county supervisor in January 2016, said ending competent immunity would have devastating results for regulation enforcement officers and destruction their capacity to make a residing.
“Why need to their households be jeopardized?” Ayers said. “Their arms touch and their eyes see what a human never should have to see in their lifetime.”
