Imagine you have immunity for any bad actions you take. You’ve probably heard of diplomatic immunity, where officials of other countries are shielded from prosecution. Then there’s sovereign immunity, when the head of government cannot be charged. But in America, our legal system has come up with the idea of qualified immunity. While the idea of qualified immunity may make sense, like so many other things, it has been badly abused by those in government.

The State of New York is considering legislation that may put the brakes on some of the abuses of qualified immunity. Would this make things better or worse?