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, legal experts note how qualified immunity could shield Uvalde’s rogue cops; public safety advocates deliver urgent messages to New York lawmakers; a federal court paves the way for police accountability; and more!
FEATURED STORY
Reuters: Police, Guns and Schools Protected from Lawsuits Over Texas Shooting
“Qualified immunity could potentially bar lawsuits against Uvalde police even though the director of the Texas Department of Public Safety has acknowledged that officers made the ‘wrong decision’ when they waited for backup before confronting the shooter, legal experts said.”
Read more here.
NEW YORK
End QI NY and VOCAL-NY recently stopped by the offices of Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assemblymember Carl Heastie to drop off stacks of postcards expressing the fear and frustration New Yorkers face due to abusive public officials who rely on qualified immunity to get away with misconduct.
VERMONT
Civil rights advocates are slamming the legislature for watering-down a slate of critical police-reform measures, including S.254, the bill to end qualified immunity. “We’re increasingly seeing a concerted backlash by police and by defenders of the status quo to roll back some of the recent progress Vermont has made,” said James Lyall, executive director of the ACLU of Vermont.
Read more here.
ADDITIONAL NEWS
NBC DFW: Dallas Police Officers to Face Civil Rights Trial in Timpa Case
“A federal appeals court ruled back in January that ‘qualified immunity’ should not protect the officers from potential liability resulting from the death of Tony Timpa, a man with mental illness who died after being restrained for nearly 14 minutes by Dallas police officers in 2016.”
Read more here.
KCTV 5: ‘The Laws Must Change.’ Mother of Ryan Stokes Responds to Court Decision Blocking Her Lawsuit
“We have fought for justice for Ryan for the last 8 years and we will continue our fight. Today we learned that the officer will be protected by ‘qualified immunity’…The laws must change. Our sons and daughters must be protected. Our families will continue to fight for Ryan and for all the other young men and women killed and maimed by police in Kansas City.”
Read more here.
Minnesota Star Tribune: Chauvin, Minneapolis Police Named in Two Federal Excessive Force Lawsuits Dating to 2017, Involving Teenager, Woman
“[John] Pope’s was one of two federal lawsuits filed against Chauvin and the city by Bennett on Tuesday that accused the ex-officer of using the same dangerous restraint. The teenager’s lawsuit calls Chauvin a ‘serial predator’ with a ‘signature move’ of placing his knee on the neck of prone, handcuffed arrestees.”
Read more here.
Kansas City Defender: KCPD Shot an Unarmed Black Woman 5 Times. The Woman Had Her Hands Up.
“In what community members are now describing as a ‘horrific, attempted execution,’ two Kansas City police officers shot and critically wounded a Black woman on Friday night, May 27th, in the Independence Plaza neighborhood.”
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