Welcome to the Campaign to End Qualified Immunity’s weekly wrap-up for 1/17–1/21! Here, we highlight the week’s updates and notable news as we continue our state-focused fight to abolish the unjust rule.
This week, the council member who helped limit qualified immunity in NYC calls on states to follow suit; public safety activists demand police transparency in Maryland; President Biden plans executive action on police reform; and more!
FEATURED STORY
USA Today: We Transformed Police Accountability in New York City. State Leaders Should Follow Suit.
Former New York City Council member Stephen Levin: “Congress has failed to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act at the federal level. Now is the time for states to step up to protect their residents.”
Read more here.
NEW YORK
Watch End QI NY’s recent virtual rally supporting S 1991, which offers a “bold, comprehensive approach to changing the culture of law enforcement, empowering the victims of police brutality, and building trust between law enforcement and our communities.”
Watch the video here. (Password: 9P&=Lwrn)
Blatantly disregarding human rights, Bronx prosecutors have dropped charges against a rogue Rikers Island medic accused of abusing inmates simply because the DA’s office “couldn’t bring the case to trial quickly enough.”
Read more here.
VERMONT
State Senator Dick Sears, who’s sponsoring the bill to end qualified immunity in the Green Mountain State, says abolishing the unjust rule “will help restore trust in community policing and boost police officers’ confidence in their good faith policing.”
Read more here.
Vermont’s bill to end qualified immunity “makes fundamental good sense,” notes lawyer Amelia Silver, because it’s “a reasonable, measured way to improve access to justice, ensure accountability, and build community trust.”
Read more here.
Per a recent memo from State’s Attorney Sarah George, “The Chittenden County prosecutor’s office will no longer pursue charges in cases where evidence of a crime was collected during a ‘non-public safety’ traffic stop,” as these cases disproportionately—and unfairly—affect passengers of color.
Read more here.
WASHINGTON
Juan Peralez, president of Unidos of Snomish County, an advocacy group that unites law enforcement with communities, champions HB 1202, the bill to end qualified immunity in the Evergreen State. Qualified immunity “only supports and encourages omnipotent policing,” he writes. “We need to look at HB 1202 as a public safety issue as well as a moral and human rights issue.”
Read more here.
U.S. citizen Carlos Rios has filed a complaint against the rogue ICE officers who unlawfully imprisoned him in 2019. “Mr. Rios’s case epitomizes the harm that can result when local officials detain individuals for immigration purposes in violation of the U.S. Constitution and Washington State laws,” says attorney Leila Kang of the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project.
Read more here.
OREGON
Records reveal how training materials designed by the Portland Police Department “celebrated the use of violence against demonstrators, suggesting they would end up ‘stitched and bandaged.’” This type of disturbing attitude has contributed to the erosion of public trust in law enforcement.
Read more here.
MARYLAND
Demanding police transparency, local public safety activists “are questioning how Prince George’s County is implementing new state requirements for improving law enforcement.”
Read more here.
ADDITIONAL NEWS
NBC4 Washington: Biden Plans Executive Action on Police Reform to Revive Stalled Issue
“[Biden’s] executive actions…could coincide with a similar effort by some Democratic lawmakers to revive the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which stalled on Capitol Hill after failed attempts to craft a bipartisan measure.”
Read more here.
Boston.com: Massachusetts Created a Commission to Study Qualified Immunity. Reform Advocates Aren’t Happy with the Result.
“Following the string of high-profile police brutality cases against people of color, [Lawyers for Civil Rights] said it was ‘absurd to suggest that more data is needed to assess the impact of qualified immunity.’”
Huffington Post: Major Media Outlets Can’t Stop Describing Police Violence As ‘Officer-Involved’ Incidents
“In theory, the media should have left this specific ‘officer-involved’ terminology behind after the killing of George Floyd in May 2020, which…prompted newsrooms to reexamine longstanding practices regarding their coverage of communities of color, particularly how they report on police shootings.”
Read more here.
USA Today: 3 Pennsylvania Police Officers Charged in Fatal Shooting of 8-Year-Old Exiting High School Football Game
“In September, authorities said it was police officers who fired the bullets that hit four people, including a fatal shot that killed [Fanta Bility] who was leaving the game at the time.”
Read more here.
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