100 signatures reached
To: Representative Jamie Raskin
Hold Them Accountable, Raskin- Defund and Demilitarize Law Enforcement
The state of Maryland is in a very transitional time at the moment, and we are looking to ensure that it is transitioning for the better. The current system still allows for police to abuse their power and negatively impact the communities they are supposed to protect. Now we must work together to show that we care about Black lives.
Why is this important?
Dear Representative Raskin,
As residents of Maryland’s 8th district, we call upon you to use your position on the House Judiciary Committee to take real and concrete steps to address the systemic violence and racism that plagues every level of our criminal justice system. While the legislation you’ve supported thus far is an excellent start, the reforms we’ve tried in the past have not ended the brutality. At the moment, there’s no reason for us to believe the reforms in the bills you’ve supported will end the racist brutality now. We have moved past the time for moderate, reactionary reforms. The momentum to fundamentally change the system is here, and we call upon you to support legislation that puts the following demands into action.
End the transfer of military-grade equipment to police departments, and eliminate funding for programs that supply these weapons to police departments.
Require disciplinary action for officers who prevent body/car/street cameras (any and all recording equipment) from filming, even unintentionally.
Require footage from all police interactions to be automatically uploaded to publicly accessible platforms to which police departments do not have editorial access.
Oppose additional federal funding for implicit bias training, de-escalation training, or “neighborhood watches” that cities may create to replace police departments.
End qualified immunity and allow for suits to be brought retroactively against officers (including federal officials) who have violated civil rights in the past. The Bivens Act must allow for retroactive suits to be brought.
End suspensions with pay for officers who commit acts of brutality.
Create police involvement and brutality databases, aggregated by race, gender, sexuality, etc on a publicly accessible and easy to use online platform (where police involvement means all police encounters with the public, including non-arrests; all stop and frisks, all speeding tickets, etc).
Require disciplinary action for police who do not report their interactions with civilians, even unintentionally.
Institute stronger federal protections for police whistleblowers, including but not limited to personal security (if so desired) and pension/benefits protection.
Demand that the proposed Law Enforcement Identification Act must be coupled with disciplinary action for any officers who break it, whether “unknowingly” or intentionally. Ignorance of the law is no excuse for us; it cannot be an excuse for them.
Fully legalize marijuana, remove it from level 1 status, and allow NIH grants to go to marijuana research.
Release all nonviolent drug offenders in federal prisons (including non-marijuana charges), particularly those convicted under mandatory minimums.
Federally decriminalize sex work, repeal SESTA-FOSTA.
Demilitarize and defund ICE.
We know this list of demands presents a challenge, but these changes are necessary to end the violence perpetrated against black, brown and poor people in this country.
Note: “Disciplinary action” may include, but is not be limited to: suspensions without pay, firings, loss of weapons/firearms, losing the right to own firearms, pay cuts, demotions, press releases that include the officer’s name, photo, and specifics about the actions of that officer to local (and potentially national) news outlets
As residents of Maryland’s 8th district, we call upon you to use your position on the House Judiciary Committee to take real and concrete steps to address the systemic violence and racism that plagues every level of our criminal justice system. While the legislation you’ve supported thus far is an excellent start, the reforms we’ve tried in the past have not ended the brutality. At the moment, there’s no reason for us to believe the reforms in the bills you’ve supported will end the racist brutality now. We have moved past the time for moderate, reactionary reforms. The momentum to fundamentally change the system is here, and we call upon you to support legislation that puts the following demands into action.
End the transfer of military-grade equipment to police departments, and eliminate funding for programs that supply these weapons to police departments.
Require disciplinary action for officers who prevent body/car/street cameras (any and all recording equipment) from filming, even unintentionally.
Require footage from all police interactions to be automatically uploaded to publicly accessible platforms to which police departments do not have editorial access.
Oppose additional federal funding for implicit bias training, de-escalation training, or “neighborhood watches” that cities may create to replace police departments.
End qualified immunity and allow for suits to be brought retroactively against officers (including federal officials) who have violated civil rights in the past. The Bivens Act must allow for retroactive suits to be brought.
End suspensions with pay for officers who commit acts of brutality.
Create police involvement and brutality databases, aggregated by race, gender, sexuality, etc on a publicly accessible and easy to use online platform (where police involvement means all police encounters with the public, including non-arrests; all stop and frisks, all speeding tickets, etc).
Require disciplinary action for police who do not report their interactions with civilians, even unintentionally.
Institute stronger federal protections for police whistleblowers, including but not limited to personal security (if so desired) and pension/benefits protection.
Demand that the proposed Law Enforcement Identification Act must be coupled with disciplinary action for any officers who break it, whether “unknowingly” or intentionally. Ignorance of the law is no excuse for us; it cannot be an excuse for them.
Fully legalize marijuana, remove it from level 1 status, and allow NIH grants to go to marijuana research.
Release all nonviolent drug offenders in federal prisons (including non-marijuana charges), particularly those convicted under mandatory minimums.
Federally decriminalize sex work, repeal SESTA-FOSTA.
Demilitarize and defund ICE.
We know this list of demands presents a challenge, but these changes are necessary to end the violence perpetrated against black, brown and poor people in this country.
Note: “Disciplinary action” may include, but is not be limited to: suspensions without pay, firings, loss of weapons/firearms, losing the right to own firearms, pay cuts, demotions, press releases that include the officer’s name, photo, and specifics about the actions of that officer to local (and potentially national) news outlets