Welcome to the weekly update from the Campaign to End Qualified Immunity! Here, we give you a wrap-up of the latest developments and notable news as we continue our state-focused fight to abolish the unjust rule.
This week, a noted reverend explains the “moral duty” of holding rogue cops accountable; a top Vermont prosecutor wants to topple qualified immunity; Maryland’s public safety bill gets a hearing; and more!
FEATURED STORY
USA Today: The Power We Give Police Officers Is Sacred. We Have a Moral Duty to Hold Them Accountable.
Rev. Adam Russell Taylor: “For the sake of the common good, the United States desperately needs to transform the relationship between police misconduct and accountability. Ending qualified immunity for law enforcement is an important step on that journey.”
Read more here.
VERMONT
Chittenden County State’s Attorney Sarah George’s “ultimate goal” is to make her job “unnecessary” by “overhaul[ing] a racist and classist legal system and replac[ing] it with healthy and vibrant communities.” George proudly supports S.254, Vermont’s bill to end qualified immunity.
Read more here.
Ben and Jerry, Rep. Selene Colburn, Sen. Kesha Ram Hinsdale, and other prominent public safety advocates will hold a press conference in Burlington on Wednesday, March 1, at 1:00 PM EST, calling on state lawmakers to support S.254.
NEW YORK
“We wouldn’t call this criminal justice reform,” Katerina Siira of End QI NY explains, speaking on S 1991, the bill to abolish qualified immunity in the Empire State. More accurately, this legislation focuses on “public safety reform,” as qualified immunity has eroded New Yorkers’ trust in the legal system as a whole.
Read more here.
MARYLAND
Delegate Jheanelle Wilkins’ House Bill 1012, Police Immunity and Accountability Act, has been scheduled for a hearing on Tuesday, March 1, at 1:00 PM EST in the Judiciary Committee..
“No, the police should not be policing themselves.” Watch the Maryland Coalition for Justice and Police Accountability‘s Police Accountability Board Implementation Town Hall here.
ILLINOIS
Chicago’s Civilian Office of Police Accountability has released footage of the arrest of Irene Chavez, the 33-year-old Army vet suffering from PTSD who “Instead of receiving the mental healthcare she needed…was left in a police cell and ignored while she yelled for help.”
Read more here.
ADDITIONAL NEWS
NAACP LDF: LDF Submits Response Brief in Qualified Immunity Excessive Force Case Involving Taser and Pepper-Spray Deployment
“Any officer who shows such alarming disregard for the law that they believe it is appropriate to assault a person for simply sitting down with their hands behind their neck and not speaking must be held accountable.”
Read more here.
NBC: Police Response to N.J. Mall Fight Sparks Outrage After Black Teen Cuffed as White Teen Watches
“It doesn’t take two cops to hold a 14-year-old boy down who’s not resisting, while the other boy is just kind of going free and still going off on my son. It just doesn’t make sense.”
Read more here.
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