Constitutional Accountability Act

Summary

Creates a broad expansion of civil liability for constitutional violations by treating the United States, States, territories, local governments, and related entities as "persons" under the federal civil-rights statute and by making employers and contractors directly liable for constitutional or statutory rights violations committed by employees or contractors performing law-enforcement functions. It also waives state and federal sovereign immunity for those claims and preserves other existing causes of action. Because the change explicitly defines who counts as a covered "person" and who is a "law enforcement officer," it would allow more lawsuits seeking money damages against governments, agencies, private contractors, and individual officers for rights violations, even where employees might otherwise have immunity or where the conduct was tied to employer policy or custom.

• Treats the federal government, states, territories, local governments, and related entities as "persons" under § 1983.
• Defines "law enforcement officer" to cover officers empowered to search, seize, or arrest for covered governments and entities.
• Creates direct vicarious (employer/contractor) liability for constitutional or statutory violations by employees or contractors performing law-enforcement functions.
• Makes employer/contractor liability apply even if the employee/contractor would otherwise have immunity or was acting under employer policy or custom.
• Waives state sovereign immunity for these employer/contractor claims under Congress's Fourteenth Amendment powers.
• Waives the United States' sovereign immunity for claims under the new employer/contractor liability provision.
• Explicitly preserves other causes of action under § 1983 and other laws.
• Findings highlight concerns about gaps in police training, supervision, and the limits of current municipal-liability doctrine as a rationale for the changes.