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Nebraska Immunity from Prosecution for the Use of Justifiable Force Amendment (2022)

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Nebraska Immunity from Prosecution for the Use of Justifiable Force Amendment
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Election date
November 8, 2022
Topic
Civil and criminal trials
Status
Not on the ballot
Type
Constitutional amendment		Origin
Citizens

The Nebraska Immunity from Prosecution for the Use of Justifiable Force Amendment was not on the ballot in Nebraska as an initiated constitutional amendment on November 8, 2022.

The initiative would have granted immunity from criminal prosecution and civil liability to a person who uses or threatens to use justifiable force. The immunity would have not applied to persons who use or threaten force against law enforcement officers. The amendment would have taken effect on January 18, 2023.[1][2]

Text of measure

Constitutional changes

See also: Article I, Nebraska Constitution

The measure would have added a new section to Article 1 of the state constitution. The following underlined text would have been added:[1] Note: Hover over the text and scroll to see the full text.

(1)(a) Except as provided in subdivision (1)(b) of this section, a person who uses or threatens to use force, as permitted by any law enacted contemporaneously with the adoption of this section or at any time thereafter, is justified in such conduct and is immune from criminal prosecution and civil liability for such use or threatened use of such force.

(b) The immunity provided for in this subsection does not apply if.

(i) The person against whom force was used or threatened was a law

enforcement officer acting in the performance of his or her official duties; and

(ii) The officer identified himself or herself as a law enforcement officer in accordance with any applicable law or the person using or threatening to use force knew or reasonable should have known that the person was a law enforcement officer acting in the performance of his or her official duties.

(c) For the purpose of this section, criminal prosecution includes arrest, detention or custody, the filing of charges, and prosecution.

(2) Once a claim of self-defense immunity from criminal prosecution has been determined, the burden of proof by clear and convincing evidence is on any party seeking to overcome the immunity from criminal prosecution provided in subsection (1).

(3) The court shall award, at the expense of the plaintiff, reasonable attorney's fees, court costs, compensation for loss of income, and all expenses incurred in defense of any civil action brought by a plaintiff if the court finds that the defendant is immune from prosecution as provided in subsection (1).

(4) This amendment becomes operative on January 18, 2023.[3]

Full text

  • The full text of the measure is available here.

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing the initiative process in Nebraska

The state process

In Nebraska, the number of signatures required to qualify an initiated constitutional amendment for the ballot is equal to 10 percent of registered voters as of the deadline for filing signatures. Because of the unique signature requirement based on registered voters, Nebraska is also the only state where petition sponsors cannot know the exact number of signatures required until they are submitted. Nebraska law also features a distribution requirement mandating that petitions contain signatures from 5 percent of the registered voters in each of two-fifths (38) of Nebraska's 93 counties.

Signatures must be submitted at least four months prior to the next general election. Signatures do not roll over and become invalid after the next general election at least four months after the initial initiative application filing. Depending on when the initiative application is filed, petitioners can have up to just under two years to circulate petitions.

The requirements to get an initiated constitutional amendment certified for the 2022 ballot:

Signatures are submitted to the secretary of state. The secretary of state sends the appropriate signature petitions to each county, where county election officials verify the signatures. Upon receiving the signatures back from county officials, the secretary of state determines whether or not the requirements were met.

Details about this initiative

  • The initiative was filed by Robert Rhodes and Michael Connely on September 10, 2021.[2]
  • The sponsors of the initiative did not file the required number of signatures by the deadline.[2]

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Nebraska Secretary of State's Office, "Full text," accessed December 2, 2021
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Nebraska Secretary of State's Office, "List of petitions," accessed December 2, 2021
  3. ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source.
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