Our country is devastated by the frequent deaths and injuries of hundreds of Black and Brown people at the hands of the police. Police officers are entrusted to protect and serve the community and should be held accountable to the people they serve. Demand humane, equitable, and constitutional policing in Colorado communities.

Contact your representative and tell them to vote in support of the Law Enforcement Integrity and Accountability Act.
Police officers often escape liability because of qualified immunity, a legal doctrine that prevents the community from holding police responsible when they violate laws, policies, and community trust. Police officers are government officials who should be held accountable to the people they serve.

Resources:

Take action now.
Read SB20-217 here.
Read our fact sheet and story sheet here. 
Learn more about qualified immunity.
Use our social media toolkit.
Write a letter to the editor in support of SB20-217. 

SB20-217 Supporters

The Family of Michael Marshall
The Family of De’Von Bailey
The Family of Marvin Booker
The Family of Elijah McClain
Colorado Freedom Fund
NAACP CO MT WY State Conference
Black Lives Matter 5280
Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition
Colorado Criminal Defense Bar
Office of the State Public Defender
Office of the Alternate Defense Counsel
Women’s Lobby of Colorado
Second Chance Center
Interfaith Alliance of Colorado
Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition
Colorado Press Association Network
Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights
Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition
Colorado Cross-Disability Coalition
Civil Rights Education and Enforcement Center
Disability Law Colorado
Lawyers Civil Rights Committee
New Era Colorado
National Police Accountability Project
Colorado Juvenile Defender Center
Progress Now Colorado
Center for Health Progress
Healthier Colorado
Physicians for Criminal Justice Reform
Law Enforcement Action Partnership
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Colorado Civic Engagement Roundtable
Cobalt
Colorado Coalition for the Homeless
Office of the Respondent Parent Counsel
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Colorado Broadcasters Association
Colorado Consumer Health Initiative
Progress for Colorado
Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains
Colorado Trial Lawyers Association
Colorado Fiscal Institute
Denver Homeless Out Loud
Sam Cary Bar Association
Project Voyce
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United for New Economy
Together Colorado
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SEIU Colorado
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One Colorado
Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network
9to5 Colorado
Colorado Social Legislation Committee
Colorado Latino Leadership, Advocacy & Research Organization
Educate!
UNITE HERE! Local 23 Denver Chapter
UFCW Local 7
Boulder Valley Women’s Health Center
Atlantis Community, Inc.
Reciprocity Collective
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Enterprise Community Partners
Young Invincibles
East Colfax Community Collective
Positive Women’s Network Colorado
Positive Women’s Network USA
Defy Ventures Colorado
The Blossom Project
Transformative Freedom Fund
Art from Ashes
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Tough Angels
Arvadans for Progressive Action
Spring Institute for Intercultural Learning
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Unitarian Universalist Community Minister
Problem Gambling Coalition of Colorado
JUUST Living intentional recovery community
Colorado Business Committee for the Arts
Veterans For Peace
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Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Durango
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Fighting to Farming
Live Well Colorado
Girls Inc. of Metro Denver
Canna-Patient Resource Connection
The Resistance 5280
NAACP Pueblo Branch
NAACP Aurora Branch
NAACP Colorado Springs Branch
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NAACP Weld County Organizing Committee
NAACP Boulder County Branch
NAACP State Civic Engagement & Voting Rights Committee
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Advocacy Denver
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The Arc - Jefferson, Clear Creek & Gilpin Counties
The Arc of the Pikes Peak Region
The Arc Arapahoe & Douglas Counties
The Association for Community Living Boulder and Broomfield Counties
The Arc of Larimer County
The Arc of Adams County
The Arc of Weld County
The Arc of Southwest Colorado

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — The American Civil Liberties Union and ACLU of Minnesota are jointly calling for a fair, independent, and transparent investigation following the death of George Floyd, a Black man, at the hands of Minneapolis police Monday evening.

We need you with us to build national pressure and ensure public outrage leads to action. Please join us in calling on Minnesota leadership to hand the case over to an independent prosecutor under the Attorney General's authority.

CALL FOR JUSTICE NOW

In a 10-minute-long eyewitness video that eerily recalls the Eric Garner case in New York City, a Minneapolis police officer can be seen kneeling directly on Floyd's neck, crushing it into the pavement. The handcuffed Floyd cries and moans at least nine times, “I can’t breathe,” and begs the officer: “Don’t kill me.”

Increasingly frantic bystanders are heard telling police to let Floyd breathe and warning them that he wasn’t moving. Yet the officer kept his body weight on Floyd’s neck for four more minutes after Floyd stopped moving. At one point, the officer brandishes pepper spray at bystanders who are pleading with police to stop. Other officers appear to do nothing to intervene or help Floyd.

Paige Fernandez, policing policy advisor for the ACLU, issued the following statement:

“Nearly six years after Eric Garner’s death in New York — and four years after Philando Castile’s in Minnesota — this tragic video shows how little meaningful change has emerged to prevent police from taking the lives of Black people. Even in places like Minneapolis, where chokeholds are technically banned, Black people are targeted by the police for low-level offenses and are subjected to unreasonable, unnecessary violence. Make no mistake: George Floyd should be alive today. The officers responsible must be held accountable. The public has seen the video. To call this a ‘medical incident’ is an insult.”

John Gordon, executive director of the ACLU of Minnesota issued the following statement:

“You can’t watch this appalling video posted by brave eyewitnesses on social media without seeing police officers’ callous disregard for a Black man’s life, and you can’t help but conclude that yet another tragic death was both needless and preventable. Law enforcement officers too often resort to excessive force in interactions with Black and Brown people, despite their duty to protect and serve everyone.

“These interactions are not new. The systemic targeting of and use of unnecessary force against people of color is woven into the fabric of our law enforcement institutions and stems from the legacy of slavery and Jim Crow in this country. The horrifying video of the killing underscores the immediate need for a thorough, fair, and transparent investigation into George Floyd’s death. The community needs a comprehensive review and the reform of police practices and policies. The officers involved – not just the perpetrator, but also those who stood by and did nothing – must be held accountable.”

CALL FOR JUSTICE NOW