[Peace-discuss] AI: 8 states require warning before law enforcement uses lethal force; Illinois not one of them

Tue Jun 23 08:32:56 EDT 2015

I thought this was striking:

   - Only eight states require a verbal warning be given before law
   enforcement uses lethal force. (Connecticut; Florida, Indiana; Nevada; New
   Mexico; Tennessee; Utah and Washington).

What struck me about this list was that 1) Illinois is not on it 2) there's
no obvious political pattern to it. Connecticut is "blue," Indiana is
"red," Utah is "deep red." If Indiana can have this rule, why not Illinois?

Should we agitate for Illinois to adopt this reform?

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From: Steven at Amnesty International USA <alerts at takeaction.amnestyusa.org>
Date: Tue, Jun 23, 2015 at 6:04 AM
Subject: Stand Up Against Unlawful Use of Police Force
To: naiman at justforeignpolicy.org

 Thank you for taking action to help stop unlawful police killings. Last
week, Amnesty released a hard-hitting investigative report to advocate for
restricting the use of lethal force by police officers. Please help.
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Demand Reform of Police Use of Lethal Force Laws
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Amnesty is investigating the laws that govern police use of force in the
United States. The use of lethal force by law enforcement results in the
deaths of hundreds of men and women every year in the U.S.

Make a donation to help support our work investigating police use of deadly
force and advocating for use of force laws to be brought into line with
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  Dear Robert,

The words still send shivers up my spine. "I can't breathe."

Eric Garner gasped those words as he was being choked to death by a police
officer on a New York City sidewalk.

Eric's alleged crime? Selling loose cigarettes.

His dying words have become a rallying cry across America and the world.

Now, we must stop future tragedies like this - tragedies we are sadly
seeing unfold with alarming consistency. How? By reforming state laws on
the use of lethal force by police officers.

Last week, Amnesty released a report to draw attention to police killings
and to show that the United States is out of sync with international
standards governing the use of lethal force. Those global standards only
allow police officers to use deadly force as a last resort to protect
themselves or others against a threat to life or of serious injury.

Donate to help support our work investigating deadly force by police
officers and advocating for state laws that prevent unlawful police
killings.
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Through our comprehensive research, we found:

   - All 50 states and Washington, DC fail to comply with international
   standards on the use of lethal force by law enforcement officers.
   - None of the state statutes require that non-violent and less harmful
   means be tried first and lethal force used only as a last resort.
   - African Americans are disproportionately affected by the use of lethal
   force. The African American population of the US is 13% but makes up 27% of
   those killed by law enforcement.
   - Nine states allow lethal force to suppress a riot (Arizona; Delaware;
   Idaho; Mississippi; Nebraska; Pennsylvania; South Dakota; Vermont and
   Washington).
   - Only eight states require a verbal warning be given before law
   enforcement uses lethal force. (Connecticut; Florida, Indiana; Nevada; New
   Mexico; Tennessee; Utah and Washington).

These are just a few of our findings.

Amnesty is making it a priority to ensure that all state legislatures
introduce or amend statutes to limit the use of lethal force.

Will you help support our efforts? Donate now and help bring human rights
home.
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[image: Steven W Hawkins]Sincerely,
Steven Hawkins
Executive Director
Amnesty International USA

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