© Kelley L Cox | 2020 Jan 19
At least 20 49ers players and coaches joined more than 1,100 athletes and coaches and 300-plus front office personnel across the NFL, MLB and NBA in unison with Representatives Justin Amash and Ayanna Pressley to sign a Players Coalition letter in support of the passage of the Ending Qualified Immunity Act, which seeks, “To amend the Revised Statutes to remove the defense of qualified immunity in the case of any action under section 1979, and for other purposes.”
The Players Coalition was founded by Anquan Boldin and Malcolm Jenkins in 2017 and is governed by 12 members, and seeks the, “… collective goal of MAKING AN IMPACT ON SOCIAL JUSTICE AND RACIAL EQUALITY at the federal, state and local levels through advocacy, awareness, education, and allocation of resources.”
The three key pillars of the organization, per its website, are police and community relations, criminal justice reform and education and economic advancement.
The Players Coalition letter states the following:
“We are tired of conversations around police accountability that go nowhere, and we have engaged in too many ‘listening sessions,’ where we discuss whether there is a problem of police violence in this country. There is a problem. The world witnessed it when Officer [Derek] Chauvin murdered George Floyd, and the world is watching it now, as officers deploy enormous force on peaceful protestors like those who were standing outside of the White House last week. The time for debate about the unchecked authority of the police is over; it is now time for change.”
As defined by Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito in his opinion in Pearson v. Callahan, qualified immunity is a doctrine which gives government officials a higher level of protection.
“The doctrine of qualified immunity protects government officials ‘from liability for civil damages insofar as their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known,’” Alito wrote.
This premise ensures that government officials are often subject to skewed, minor punishments for crimes compared to the punishment if the same acts had been committed by the general public.
“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,” the Players Coalition writes. “And officers must know that if they act in such a manner, there will be repercussions. A legal system that does not provide such recourse is an illegitimate one.”
Today, on behalf of 1100+ athletes & coaches and 300+ front office personnel across the @NFL @NBA & @MLB, we urge Congress to pass the Ending Qualified Immunity Act, introduced by @justinamash & @AyannaPressley
We demand accountability for police brutality. It's time for change. pic.twitter.com/ro7eRmvSK6
— PlayersCoalition (@playercoalition) June 10, 2020
The following 49ers players were among the group to sign their name to the letter:
Arik Armstead, Ronald Blair, Kyle Juszczyk, George Kittle, Raheem Mostert, Shawn Poindexter, Jaquiski Tartt, Jason Verrett, Mitch Wishnowsky.
The following coaches signed their name to the letter:
Daniel Bullocks (safeties), Jon Embree (tight ends), Brian Fleury (defensive quality control), Richard Hightower (special teams), Johnny Holland (run game specialist/outside linebackers), Kris Kocurek (defensive line), Mike LaFleur (passing game coordinator), DeMeco Ryans (inside linebackers), Kyle Shanahan (head coach), Bobby Slowik (offensive assistant), Katie Sowers (offensive assistant), Aaron Whitecotton (assistant d-line).