Qualified Immunity: A Discussion with Jay Schweikert of the Cato Institute

In the wake of George Floyd’s murder in 2020 – and the national turmoil his death provoked – policing reform shot to the forefront of the nation’s consciousness and became a pressing public-policy concern for both Congress and state legislatures around the country.

Central to this discussion was the controversial legal doctrine of qualified immunity, which regularly protects police officers from being sued for their misconduct. But how does this doctrine work in practice, and what would be the consequences of eliminating or reforming it?

Jay Schweikert, a research associate with the Cato Institute and national expert on qualified immunity, will explain the origins of the doctrine and discuss some of the most common misunderstandings about it. He will also provide several vivid illustrations of how it’s used by courts to shield shocking and egregious misconduct by police and other public officials.

 
Jay Schweikert is a research fellow with the Cato Institute’s Project on Criminal Justice. His research and advocacy focuses on accountability for prosecutors and law enforcement, plea bargaining, Sixth Amendment trial rights, and the provision and  structuring of indigent defense.

Before joining Cato, Schweikert spent four years doing civil and  criminal litigation at Williams & Connolly LLP. He holds a JD from Harvard Law School, where he was an articles editor for the Harvard Law Review, and chaired the Harvard Federalist Society’s student colloquium program. Following law school, Schweikert clerked for Judge Diane Sykes of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and Judge Laurence Silberman of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit.

He holds a BA in political science and economics from Yale University.