(CW: sexual assault)
In a recent op-ed, New York State Senator Julia Salazar blasts qualified immunity (QI) for shielding sexually abusive prison guards from accountability. Salazar, chair of the New York State Senate’s Standing Committee on Crime Victims, Crime and Corrections, is a co-sponsor of S 1991, the New York bill that would end QI for bad correction officers.
President Biden addresses police accountability during State of the Union; Ben and Jerry host a press conference for public safety in Vermont; NAACP attorneys condemn the “deepest failures” of qualified immunity; and more!
Georgina Yeomans and Kevin Jason from the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund highlight the Pamela Moses case as an example of the “deepest failures” of our legal system, looking at how qualified immunity “protects officials and punishes citizens.”
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!
Rev. Adam Russell Taylor, president of Sojourners, explains why we have a “moral duty” to end qualified immunity. “For our justice system to have any legitimacy,” he writes, “wrongdoers must be punished fairly and equally, whether they are holding a badge or not.”
The Innocence Project discusses how they helped to eliminate qualified immunity in New Mexico; Ben and Jerry host a virtual event to support Vermont’s public safety bill; Chicago’s Office of Police Accountability investigates the humanitarian crisis in prisons; and more!
Legal experts Alexander A. Reinert, Joanna C. Schwartz, and James E. Pfander discuss how states can protect public safety by abolishing qualified immunity. As they write, “Today’s crisis in the criminal legal system…provides an opportunity for a new kind of civil rights federalism—one that begins with state legislative action.”
A faith leader questions qualified immunity; Kenneth Chamberlain Jr. seeks accountability for his father; the ACLU of Vermont testifies for public safety; and more!
In recent years, business leaders, pro athletes, and creative artists have all spoken out against qualified immunity. Now, we can add another group to the list: faith leaders. Jim Wallis, founding director of the Georgetown University Center on Faith and Justice, examines the unjust doctrine through an ethical lens.