Tell Congress to end qualified immunity now.

Take a quick moment to help reduce police power and violence:
Tell Congress to End Qualified Immunity.
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Friend –

Yesterday marked one year to the day George Floyd was brutally murdered in broad daylight by Officer Derek Chauvin over 9 minutes and 29 seconds as he pleaded for his life. The ACLU joins George Floyd’s family and community in mourning his death and celebrating his life.

Alongside Black-led community organizations, grassroots partners, activists like you, and elected officials, we’re also continuing the long, necessary work to divest from our inherently racist law enforcement systems – and reinvest in community-based alternatives that ensure all of us are truly safe.

Because the reality is that communities of color still continue to be patrolled by massively funded – $115 billion a year – police forces that disproportionately stop, arrest, jail, abuse, and kill people of color. And Black people are three times as likely to be killed by police than white people, and 1.3 times more likely to be unarmed when they are.

But there has been progress: From coast-to-coast, in big cities and small – the movement to reduce the role, power, and resources of police, and invest in alternatives, is steadily gaining ground. In 2020 alone, Black-led organizations and Black activists successfully advocated for $840 million to be reinvested from police departments, and secured investments of at least $160 million in communities. And this is significant work that continues today.

In Brooklyn Center, MN, for example, the ACLU and local allies worked closely with the mayor and city council to pass a sweeping law that will create a new department to send mental health workers instead of police in many situations and start a civilian traffic enforcement department that would have prevented the death of Daunte Wright.

And in Minneapolis, the city where George Floyd was killed, local Black organizers and activists have put a bold initiative on the ballot this November to create a new department of community safety to replace the long-troubled and violent Minneapolis Police Department.

At the federal level, multiple allies, as well as the ACLU, are fighting to ensure the Justice in Policing Act ends the judge-invented doctrine of qualified immunity, among other changes. You can take action with us on this work to dismantle the architecture of police impunity right now – by sending a message to Congress to end qualified immunity.
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All of this, of course, only covers the surface of what has unfolded over the past year, ACLU Supporter. And undoubtedly, there will continue to be more police killings, more tragedy and heartache, more protests, and more opposition from anti-reform forces up ahead. But together, there is also hope and resolve that efforts will lead to real change and safer communities for us all.

We’ll be back soon with ways to take part in this critical work – and thanks as always for your dedication.

Onward,

Aamra Ahmad
Pronouns: She, her, hers
Senior Policy Counsel, ACLU

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