• President Becomes King

  In 2024, the Supreme Court ruled that a president has absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for "core" official acts and presumptive immunity for all other official acts. A president can now commit crimes while in office and face no consequences—unless the act is proven to be "unofficial." Justice Sotomayor dissented, "The President is now a king above the law."

• Qualified Immunity for Law Enforcement

  Law enforcement officers cannot be sued for violating your rights unless a prior case with nearly identical facts already found the same conduct illegal. A 2020 Reuters study found that federal courts grant qualified immunity in over 50% of excessive force cases. An officer can violate the Constitution, but if no one sued for that exact violation before, there is no accountability.

• Absolute Immunity for Prosecutors 

  Prosecutors cannot be sued even when they knowingly use false evidence, hide evidence that proves innocence, or send innocent people to prison. In 1976, the Supreme Court ruled in Imbler v. Pachtman that a prosecutor who withheld evidence proving a man's innocence was absolutely immune. The wrongfully imprisoned man got nothing.

• Absolute Immunity for Judges 

  Judges cannot be sued even when they act maliciously or violate basic due process. In 1978, the Supreme Court ruled in Stump v. Sparkman that a judge who secretly ordered the sterilization of a 15-year-old girl—without notice, hearing, or lawyer—was immune from lawsuit. The girl, told she was having her appendix removed, was sterilized. The judge faced no consequences.

• Sovereign Immunity Blocks Suits Against States

  Citizens cannot sue their own state in federal court for violating their constitutional rights. The Eleventh Amendment says citizens of other states can't sue a state. But in 1890, the Supreme Court expanded this in Hans v. Louisiana to bar citizens from suing their own state—even though the Amendment says nothing about this.

• Quasi-Judicial Immunity

  Courts have extended judicial-style immunity to administrative law judges, hearing officers, arbitrators, mediators, receivers, court-appointed psychologists, and others who perform "quasi-judicial" functions. These officials can harm people and face no consequences. In Butz v. Economou (1978), the Supreme Court ruled that federal agency officials performing adjudicatory functions receive absolute immunity for their "judicial acts."

• Section 1983 is Statutory

  The right to sue state officials for constitutional violations exists only because of a statute—42 U.S.C. § 1983—passed in 1871. Congress could repeal it. Courts have already gutted it through qualified immunity and restrictive interpretations. The constitutional right to hold government accountable should not depend on a statute that can be weakened or eliminated.

• Unlimited Pardon Power

  The President can pardon anyone for any federal crime, including co-conspirators, family members, or people who committed crimes to benefit the President. The President can issue pardons in the final hours of a term. The President may even be able to pardon himself—no court has definitively ruled otherwise.

• Removes Special Treatment

  The principle of justice is restored. NO one is above the law. No person in government is immune from criminal prosecution. The fact that an act was "official" is not a defense.

• Good Faith Defense Replaces Immunity

  Officials can raise good faith as a defense at trial—but a jury decides, not a judge on summary judgment. If an officer acted in honest error and reasonably believed the conduct was lawful, they may be found not liable. If they acted with malice or willful indifference, no protection applies.

• Notice and Cure for Negligent Conduct

  For honest mistakes, a person whose rights were violated can send notice. The official has 21 days to correct the conduct. If corrected, no personal liability attaches. If not corrected, liability runs from the original act. This protects good-faith actors while ensuring rights violations are remedied.

• No Protection for Malicious Acts

  No good faith defense, no notice period, and no immunity for officials who act with malice, willful indifference, or intent to deprive someone of rights. Such conduct triggers automatic referral for criminal prosecution.

• Citizens Can Sue Their Own State

  The Eleventh Amendment is restored to its original text: citizens of other states cannot sue a state. But citizens can sue their own state for violations of constitutional rights. Sovereign immunity does not apply to constitutional violations.

• Constitutional Right of Action

  The right to sue any person who, under color of state law, deprives you of constitutional rights is now in the Constitution itself. Courts cannot create doctrines that limit or bar this right. The liability established by the Constitution cannot be abridged by judicial interpretation. Congress cannot repeal it. It is self-executing and does not require enabling legislation.

• Pardon Power Restricted

  The President cannot pardon himself, officials from a prior administration for acts connected to that administration, crimes committed to benefit the President, insurrection, sedition, treason, espionage, contempt of court, or contempt of Congress. Cannot issue preemptive pardons before conviction. Cannot issue pardons in the final 30 days of a term. Pardons for family members, administration officials, or campaign employees require Supreme Court review for corrupt purpose.

This proposal establishes accountability rules for federal officials only. It governs the President, federal judges, federal prosecutors, and federal law enforcement. It sets rules for suits against the federal government and clarifies when citizens can sue states in federal court for federal constitutional violations.

States still control accountability for state and local officials. States still decide how to discipline state judges, state prosecutors, and state police. States still control their own courts and their own tort law.

However, any official—state or federal—who violates federally protected constitutional rights can be sued under this amendment. The constitutional right of action against state deprivation of rights, currently found in 42 U.S.C. § 1983, is now constitutionalized and cannot be abridged by judicial interpretation.

Qualified immunity does not exist in the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, South Africa, or any other major democracy. In those countries, police can be sued for violating rights, and no doctrine requires a victim to find a prior case with identical facts. The United States is the only peer nation that grants such sweeping protection to officials who violate constitutional rights.

This proposal brings the United States in line with international standards for government accountability while preserving state authority over state and local systems.