Congress: Don't Pass Bill That Would Make it Almost Impossible to Sue Police

  • by: Kevin Mathews
  • recipient: Senator John Cornyn and Representative Ted Poe

We ask Republicans sponsoring the Back the Blue Act of 2017 to pull their support for this bill, which is so bad that the Human Rights Watch strongly opposes it.

While protecting police officers from bodily harm is important, this bill would essentially prevent citizens from suing the police if they are the victim of police brutality. By essentially blocking people from suing rogue cops for damages, the bill gives police forces no incentive to deter this kind of abusive behavior.

Radley Balko explains at The Washington Post:

"This means that if the police raid your home with a search warrant for pot and shoot you dead, even if your family can show that the shooting was unlawful, the police would be liable only for something like funeral expenses if they could show that “more likely than not,” you had sold some pot, or at some point possessed a large enough quantity of the drug to merit a felony charge. In some jurisdictions, merely resisting arrest is a felony. In theory, this could mean that under a scenario in which the police falsely arrest you, you resist, and they then severely beat you, if they could show that the beating was the result of your resisting, not the false arrest, you could be barred from suing for anything other than the cost of treating your injuries. If the resisting charge could be filed as an assault, that’s already a felony in most jurisdictions, and even where it isn’t, under this bill it would become a federal felony."

The bill would also make new federal crimes, including allowing for the federal death penalty in cases where an officer who is part of a police force that receives federal funding is killed. It also adds federal mandatory minimum sentences for those who assault an officer. 

We’ve seen plenty of videos in which a victim of police brutality was initially arrested and charged with assaulting one of the officers who was beating him, and this bill ramps up penalties for those victims of police brutality.

To build back public trust of the police, bad officers need to be held accountable when the situation warrants it. Let's not let cops off the hook with legislation like the Back the Blue Act of 2017. Please sign this petition to trigger an email to Congress asking them to vote NO.

We ask Congress to vote NO on Back the Blue Act of 2017, which is so bad that the Human Rights Watch strongly opposes it.

While protecting police officers from bodily harm is important, this bill would essentially prevent citizens from suing the police if they are the victim of police brutality. By essentially blocking people from suing rogue cops for damagesthe bill gives police forces no incentive to deter this kind of abusive behavior.

Radley Balko explains at The Washington Post:

"This means that if the police raid your home with a search warrant for pot and shoot you dead, even if your family can show that the shooting was unlawful, the police would be liable only for something like funeral expenses if they could show that “more likely than not,” you had sold some pot, or at some point possessed a large enough quantity of the drug to merit a felony charge. In some jurisdictions, merely resisting arrest is a felony. In theory, this could mean that under a scenario in which the police falsely arrest you, you resist, and they then severely beat you, if they could show that the beating was the result of your resisting, not the false arrest, you could be barred from suing for anything other than the cost of treating your injuries. If the resisting charge could be filed as an assault, that’s already a felony in most jurisdictions, and even where it isn’t, under this bill it would become a federal felony."

The bill would also make new federal crimes, including allowing for the federal death penalty in cases where an officer who is part of a police force that receives federal funding is killed. It also adds federal mandatory minimum sentences for those who assault an officer. 

We’ve seen plenty of videos in which a victim of police brutality was initially arrested and charged with assaulting one of the officers who was beating him, and this bill ramps up penalties for those victims of police brutality.

To build back public trust of the police, bad officers need to be held accountable when the situation warrants it. Let's not let cops off the hook with legislation like the Back the Blue Act of 2017. Please vote NO.
Update #16 years ago
Your signatures have been emailed to Congress! Any time someone new signs, it will trigger an email to Congress as well. Please share this petition on Facebook to maximize our impact!
Sign Petition
Sign Petition
You have JavaScript disabled. Without it, our site might not function properly.

Privacy Policy

By signing, you accept Care2's Terms of Service.
You can unsub at any time here.

Having problems signing this? Let us know.