Joshua Rush Instagram – hi here’s my face now WAIT: let’s talk about qualified immunity. right now in almost every state in the US, police officers aren’t held to the same laws that they’re supposed to enforce. this legal doctrine, “qualified immunity,” protects police from being sued by those they have harmed, and it protects officers and departments from the consequences of the police brutality that runs rampant in the united states.
what’s crazy is that this system wasn’t even created by congress, and it’s not really a law. way back in 1871, congress passed a civil rights act designed to combat the KKK, allowing citizens to sue public officials like cops who infringe on people’s fundamental rights.
but since the civil rights act of 1871 was passed, the courts have worked hard to dismantle those citizen protections. today, victims of police brutality can’t file a lawsuit against the officers or departments that harmed them unless they can find a similar or previous case where the force they suffered was found unlawful.
that sounds…weird, right? that’s because it is, and the system was designed this way. it forces victims into a catch-22, where if a victim files a lawsuit which a judge can dismiss if it fails to meet the impossible standards set by qualified immunity, which then opens the victim to a countersuit. the whole system is rigged against the victim.
qualified immunity is a tool of white supremacy and of police brutality, and it has to end.
but here’s the good news: we can end it! right now if you call the number in my bio, you’ll get the capitol switchboard. enter your zip code and you’ll be connected to your representative’s office, who you can say this to:
Hello! I’m a constituent, my name is [your name] and my zip code is [your zip], and I’d like to ask my representative to support the end of qualified immunity, specifically through the “Ending Qualified Immunity Act” H.R. 7085.
And that’s it! Do it, then sign some petitions (check my pinned on twitter for some gofundmes and petitions to sign) and keep fighting on.
thank u for reading, if you’ve read this far tell me how it went talking to your representative below⬇️⬇️ | Posted on 09/Jul/2020 05:56:37
