Dear Member of the United States Congress:

As current and former CEO’s, founders, and business leaders from across the country, we are outraged watching over and over police officers killing unarmed black and brown people. That is why we seek your support in ending qualified immunity, following the lead of a coalition of more than 1400 professional athletes and coaches in signing a letter prepared by the Players Coalition.

The time for debate about the unchecked authority of the police is over; it is now time for change. We ask you to pass HR 7085, introduced by Reps. Justin Amash and Ayanna Pressley. Congress passed the Ku Klux Klan Act in 1871 to give ordinary citizens recourse when powerful public officials violate constitutional rights. By passing that Act, codified in 42 U.S.C. 1983, Congress told its citizenry that no one is above the law, especially those who abuse government power. Citizens must know that if those who promise to uphold the law and protect the community fail to do so, there is a remedy available. The law, as one author has noted, is “a bulwark of American liberty.”

But the Supreme Court caused irreparable harm to public trust by creating in 1967, then expanding, the doctrine of qualified immunity, which often exempts police officers and others from liability, even for shocking abuse. Under that doctrine, plaintiffs must show that government officials violated “clearly established” law to receive damages for harm. A plaintiff wins only if a prior Court found an official liable under a nearly identical fact-pattern. This standard is virtually impossible to meet, and the protections promised under section 1983 seem largely symbolic as a result.

Qualified immunity has shielded some of the worst law enforcement officials in America. The 8th Circuit applied it to an officer who wrapped a woman in a bear hug, slammed her to the ground, and broke her collarbone as she walked away from him. The 9th Circuit applied the doctrine to two officers who allegedly stole $225,000 while executing a search warrant. The Eleventh Circuit applied the doctrine to protect an officer who unintentionally shot a ten-year old while firing at the family dog (who, much like the child, posed no threat).

It is time for Congress to eliminate qualified immunity by passing the Amash-Pressley bill. When police officers kill an unarmed man, when they beat a woman, or when they shoot a child, the people of this country must have a way to hold them accountable in a court of law. A legal system that does not provide such a recourse is not legitimate. In their grief, people are marching in the streets because government has failed to protect them. Congress must not be complicit in these injustices, and it should take this important step to show that law enforcement abuse will not be tolerated.

Sincerely,