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, the Justice Dept. charges the rogue cops responsible for Breonna Taylor’s death; the NYPD’s new inspector general vows to increase oversight; the Marshall Project examines promising shifts in police accountability; and more!
FEATURED STORY
ABC News: DOJ Announces Charges in Connection with Raid that Killed Breonna Taylor
“U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Thursday that the Department of Justice has filed charges against four former and current Louisville police officers in connection with the death of Breonna Taylor. The charges include civil rights offenses, unlawful conspiracies, unconstitutional use of force and obstruction offenses.”
Read more here.
NEW YORK
New data from the Legal Aid Society shows that the NYPD is on track to spend a whopping $67 million in lawsuit payouts in 2022—the highest amount in recent history. “Everything we know about police misconduct points to [the] conclusion that culture is what drives this problem and that a small number of officers who commit repeated misconduct create a culture that spreads misconduct,” said Legal Aid attorney Corey Stoughton.
Read more here.
Brooklyn prosecutor Charles Guria, the son of a New York cop, has been appointed the new inspector general of the NYPD. Despite the NYPD’s resistance to reform, Guria has vowed to uphold accountability and transparency. “Oversight is a necessary thing,” he said. “People who are in opposition to oversight, it’s like they’re in opposition to daylight.”
Read more here.
MARYLAND
On Friday, August 5, NBC’s Dateline aired What Happened to Anton Black?, an in-depth report that “investigates the circumstances surrounding a young Black man who died in police custody and the officer who responded to the call on the last day of Black’s life.”
Read more here.
More on Anton Black: In a victory for accountability, Black’s family has reached a $5 million settlement against the rogue cops who killed the 19-year-old in 2018. The agreement requires local law enforcement to “make changes to their policies on police use of force, provide officers with mental health training, and offer annual ‘implicit bias’ training and de-escalation methods.”
Read more here.
ILLINOIS
“The question is not who did it? The question is why it happened. I’m taking the position that the officer should’ve backed down.” A rogue cop is under investigation for injuring a driver after exchanging gunfire on the Stevenson Parkway—a violation of the Chicago Police Department’s policy prohibiting officers from shooting at or from a moving vehicle.
Read more here.
ADDITIONAL NEWS
The Marshall Project: How Policing Has—and Hasn’t—Changed Since George Floyd
“More than two years after millions took to the streets to protest police violence, the problem persists. That doesn’t mean nothing has changed….According to a database kept by researchers at Bowling Green State University, the number of officers being charged with homicide or manslaughter for on-duty killings may be on the rise.”
Read more here.
Texas Standard: Qualified Immunity Limits Police Accountability When Suspects or Inmates Are at Risk for Suicide, Experts Say
“[Qualified immunity] has long been a target of criminal justice and civil rights advocates who believe it allows police and other government workers to escape accountability. But a pair of Texas cases the Supreme Court chose not to hear this term also point to how immunity for cops has increased the risk of suicide for mentally ill suspects and inmates.”
Read more here.
Daily Beast: Black Woman’s Brain Shifted in Her Skull During Fatal Arrest, Expert Says
At the press conference on Monday, [Ben] Crump called [Brianna] Grier the ‘face of the mental health crisis here in Georgia,’ and asked why law enforcement was her only option for care.”
Read more here.
NBC News: Gabby Petito Family Files $50 Million Wrongful Death Lawsuit Against Utah Police
“An independent review, completed in January this year, found that the officers made several mistakes in handling that case—misclassifying it as more of a mental/emotional health ‘break’ rather than domestic violence, and lacking details in their reports.”
Read more here.
The Virginian-Pilot: Windsor Officers Sued Over Traffic Stop of Black Man Protected From Some Claims, Judge Rules
“[Caron Nazario’s lawyer] said the case illustrates the horrors of the qualified immunity doctrine and called it an ‘abomination unto Lady Justice.’”
Read more here.
Missouri Independent: Grieving St. Louis Families Respond to Police-involved Shooting Scenes, Push for Change
The Fatal State Violence Response Team, made up of families impacted by police violence, responds to officer-involved shootings, asking questions that they “wish someone would have asked for them.”
Read more here.
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