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September 27, 2020

Qualified Immunity

In March 2020, Louisville police conducted a no-knock raid on the home of Breonna Taylor who was asleep with her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker. When the police broke down their door, Walker believing the house was burglarized, fired his (legally owned) gun, hitting a police officer in the leg. The police returned fire, hitting Breonna five times and killing her.

The police officers involved in the raid have not been indicted for the killing of Breonna as they are protected by Qualified Immunity.

ActiVote conducted a survey in the ActiVote app regarding Qualified Immunity in general, providing five options to choose from, which can be summarized as follows:

  • Qualified Immunity should never apply
  • Qualified Immunity should be rare
  • Qualified Immunity should apply, unless people intentionally broke the law
  • Qualified Immunity should apply, with some rare exceptions
  • Qualified Immunity should always apply

This results show that Qualified Immunity is not popular among the American people.

The headline result
never
48%
only in rare cases
25%
yes, unless they intentially broke the law
23%
yes, with few exceptions
3%
always
1%
 See the details below →

We found that 73% believe that Qualified Immunity should not exist or only in rare exceptions. Only 4% believes that it is should always or in most cases apply.

The crosstabs
Men
40%
28%
28%
Women
61%
20%
15%
neveronly in rare casesyes, unless they intentially broke the lawyes, with few exceptionsalways
 See the details below →

Women reject Qualified Immunity more strongly than men, but for both a significant majority believes it should be rare or non-existent.

The crosstabs
<50k
57%
25%
13%
50k-100k
64%
16%
20%
>100k
25%
32%
35%
neveronly in rare casesyes, unless they intentially broke the lawyes, with few exceptionsalways
 See the details below →

Qualified Immunity has more support among those with higher incomes.

The crosstabs
Dem
46%
45%
9%
Rep
38%
10%
47%
Ind
51%
21%
16%
neveronly in rare casesyes, unless they intentially broke the lawyes, with few exceptionsalways
 See the details below →

Democrats reject Qualified Immunity by over 90%, while Republicans are 50/50 split on the topic.

Overall, the current situation where Qualified Immunity applies with few exceptions has limited support under the American People and may be a topic for Congress to address.

The Details

The answers as asked

Charts and tables use the short label at the start of each line.

  1. never: Public officials should never have qualified immunity.
  2. only in rare cases: Public officials should only have qualified immunity in rare cases.
  3. yes, unless they intentially broke the law: Public officials should have qualified immunity unless it is clear that they intentionally broke the law.
  4. yes, with few exceptions: Public officials should almost always have qualified immunity, with very rare exceptions.
  5. always: Public officials should always have qualified immunity.

The full crosstab table

ActiVote · Qualified Immunity · September 27, 2020
ActiVote 350 RV never only in rare cases yes, unless they intentially broke the law yes, with few exceptions always
National ±5.2% MoE 48% 25% 23% 3% 1%
Gender Men 40% 28% 28% 3% 2%
Women 61% 20% 15% 3% 0%
Age 18-29 65% 14% 17% 0% 4%
30-49 42% 18% 30% 9% 1%
50-64 55% 31% 14% 0% 0%
65+ 30% 41% 29% 0% 0%
Ethnicity White 46% 27% 24% 0% 3%
Black 81% 19% 0% 0% 0%
Latino 50% 12% 38% 0% 0%
Education High school 59% 21% 16% 0% 3%
Some college 41% 25% 26% 8% 1%
Bachelor's 44% 29% 27% 0% 0%
Income <50k 57% 25% 13% 4% 1%
50k-100k 64% 16% 20% 0% 0%
>100k 25% 32% 35% 5% 3%
Affiliation Dem 46% 45% 9% 0% 0%
Rep 38% 10% 47% 5% 0%
Ind 51% 21% 16% 8% 5%
Region Dark Red 51% 31% 18% 0% 0%
Light Red 69% 4% 19% 0% 8%
Swing 50% 29% 22% 0% 0%
Light Blue 45% 32% 12% 11% 0%
Dark Blue 33% 26% 36% 5% 0%
Methodology. Fielded September 2020 among 350 registered voters nationwide. Responses weighted by Demographics and Spectrum. Average expected error ±5.2%. See Why trust our polls? for the methodology, disclosures and accuracy record.