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John,
Videos of police terror have defined the last decade. America has reached
a place where technology has greatly outpaced our morality. We are living
in a country whose Constitution pretends to protect us all and grant
everyone equal liberties under the law, but in reality, we are helpless in
our homes and on the streets, to the unrestrained power of the police.
When you're Black, or poor, hyper surveillance and police violence is
propagated as public safety. But potentially, we are all subject to it,
just as we saw last summer; even if you’re middle-class or white, the
police can abuse you too.
[ [link removed] ]Sign our petition demanding police accountability and the end of
qualified immunity!
John, when you think about how many incidents, of
state-sanctioned violence, never make it to mainstream media it becomes
obvious that police terror is not an aberration— it’s a pattern.
This week, as we celebrate the life of Breonna Taylor and mourn the
injustice of her murder, we ask you to remember that throughout the United
States, Black people are, every day, subject to brutalization by the
misconduct of police, and in communities of color it is not a rare event.
We need only consider the wave of killings and state-sanctioned police
violence that sparked the uprisings last summer to be reminded that for
Black people this is a fact of everyday life.
Qualified immunity prevents individuals and their families from holding
police officers accountable for the countless harms they’ve committed
against Black people and communities of color by creating a firewall
around police misconduct. Color Of Change is proud to support
Representatives Ayanna Pressley and Warren Markey’s push to end this
institutional impediment.
[ [link removed] ]It’s time to reimagine public safety and that starts with ending
qualified immunity.
Past reforms to our nation’s racist and predatory policing system have
done nothing to change the material conditions of Black people. Qualified
immunity is an unjust law that gives cops unique protection that no other
profession holds. Since 1967, the Supreme Court has issued several
decisions, preventing police officers from being criminally indicted or
being sued for abuse of power or misconduct. In response to heinous and
unjust acts of police terror, including the murders of George Floyd and
Breonna Taylor, Representative Ayanna Pressley and Senator Ed Markey have
introduced legislation to end qualified immunity.
[ [link removed] ]Take action by telling your Congress you support the End Qualified
Immunity Act!
Here’s the bottom line, John: we must confront this phenomenon
of white supremacist police terror and debunk any claim that what Black
people are experiencing is relative to occasional errors, or the
personality of a particular police officer, or the characteristics of a
particular neighborhood. We all deserve equal protection under the law and
police officers who brutalize Black people must be held accountable.
Until Justice is Real,
Erika, Rashad, Arisha, Malachi, Ariel, Megan, Ernie, Palika, Madison,
Trevor, Ana, McKayla
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References:
1. [ [link removed] ]The Problem of Qualified Immunity and the Need for Reform, Equal
Justice Initiative
2. [ [link removed] ]Ending Qualified Immunity Act, Ayanna Pressley
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[ [link removed] ]Color Of Change is building a movement to elevate the voices of Black
folks and our allies, and win real social and political change. Please
help keep our movement strong.
[ [link removed] ]Make a Donation
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