Here is this month’s letters to the editor (LTE) roundup! From Maine to Arizona, CTEQI volunteers continue to write and publish impactful LTEs.
In Maine, L.D. 214, a new bill proposed by Rep. Jeffrey Evangelos to end QI, is gaining public support.
As a recent LTE published in the Wiscasset Newspaper says, “Law enforcement reform is one of the most important issues we face today, and at the end of the day it’ll not only ensure that citizens do not have their rights violated, but usher a new era of respect for law enforcement as well.”
Rep. Evangelos’ QI bill is modeled after the one Colorado passed this past summer.
Read the entire LTE here.
In the SC Times, a reader from Minneapolis speaks out against QI.
“I look forward to a day when we have ONLY the good cops. I believe that day will come even sooner if we come together to end qualified immunity for police officers,” the LTE states.
Minneapolis is still reeling from the death of George Floyd at the hands of bad cop Derek Chauvin, whose trial is underway.
Read the entire LTE here.
An LTE in the Chicago Tribune expresses outrage at the 2019 death of Melvin Bouler by police. Bouler, an 83-year-old Black man, was fatally shot by cops while sitting behind the wheel of his car.
“What if this had happened to your father or grandfather? To your brother or your uncle or your
cousin? To your son?” the writer continues. “How would you feel if these two officers go free under the doctrine of Qualified Immunity…?”
Read the entire LTE here.
“Qualified immunity has emerged as one of the greatest obstacles to [police] reform,” states an LTE in the Santa Fe New Mexican. “Failure to revise it would perpetuate a status quo that has too frequently proved ineffective in achieving justice for all.”
QI is currently in the hot seat in New Mexico. HB 4, the New Mexico Civil Rights Act, is under review in the state senate. This bill, which has a strong chance of passing, plans to eliminate qualified immunity in NM.
Read the entire LTE here.
In Arizona, an LTE in the Arizona Daily Independent focuses on the growing, nationwide demand to roll back qualified immunity.
“Recent surveys have shown that about two thirds of Americans support allowing civilians to sue bad cops for excessive force and other misconduct without special liability protections,” the writer says. “If we cannot pass a simple police reform like ending qualified immunity, how can we ever expect our voices to be heard?”
Read the entire LTE here.
Thanks for reading our LTE Round-up. You, too, can make your voice heard with an LTE! Submit an LTE to the newspaper of your choice here.