Artwork stating 'Education Destroys Barriers', 'We Demand Treatment', and 'I Need A Chance'

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  • The invisible shield: how activists and lawmakers are breaking down qualified immunity, Part 3

    The protests against police abuses in 2020 prodded numerous legislatures to challenge the legal doctrine of qualified immunity, which protects police officers from being sued for violating people's civil rights. Colorado's law, the first to pass, was a direct response to the protests, as was New York City's law. While one Colorado lawsuit has already been filed, the full effects of these laws and others in the pipeline won't be known for some time. Proponents say these changes won't transform police culture, but they are necessary precursors to making deeper changes.

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  • The invisible shield: how qualified immunity was created and nearly destroyed the ability to sue police officers in America Pt. I

    The Civil Rights Act of 1871, as a direct response to white resistance to Reconstruction-era reforms in the former Confederacy, gave people the right to sue government officials for depriving them of their civil rights. But a series of court decisions from the Civil Rights Era of the 1960s through the 1980s undercut the law's intent, so much so that police officers ended up with "qualified immunity" from liability for rights violations – effectively avoiding accountability, even when they act in bad faith.

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