USA TODAY announced a grant-funded partnership with the nonprofit Stand Together on a project aimed at exposing the abuses protected by qualified immunity, which insulates officers and departments from civil liability for police misconduct.
In a series of editorials and columns, USA TODAY will cover cases of justice denied as they are handed down by courts, give voice to those victimized by police and detail efforts to reform the policy at the state level. USA TODAY’s work will be shared with Gannett’s more than 250 local news sites in 46 states.
USA TODAY has made policing a major focus of the Opinion section since 2016, when it launched “Policing the USA,” a unique microsite that brings together commentary from around the country on all aspects of policing and reform. Since 2016, USA TODAY Opinion has run hundreds of columns with a variety of voices from national civil rights leaders to local victims, offenders, and officers. USA TODAY’s Reentry Project looked at how needless restrictions on ex-offenders led to a plague of recidivism.
Now, USA TODAY is using its own voice to explore a specific reform on a national scale at a moment when the Supreme Court has indicated it is reconsidering the doctrine of qualified immunity. USA TODAY and sites across the USA TODAY Network will publish personal stories from victims and their families, views from police departments and officers accused of abuse, and perspectives from criminal justice experts to educate the public about the issue of qualified immunity.
USA TODAY will receive grant funding from Stand Together, a nonprofit organization that supports projects that address major civic and social issues including criminal justice, education, poverty, and immigration, on this effort through 2021.
“Examining the ways qualified immunity has affected Americans represents an important part of our overall coverage of policing and reform efforts. The support from Stand Together will let our team report from across the country and present findings in powerful formats, including video, audio, and graphics, to accompany editorials, columns and essays,” said Kristen DelGuzzi, USA TODAY opinion editor.
“The status quo created by qualified immunity that denies justice for victims who had their civil rights violated by law enforcement needs to change,” said Brianna Nuhfer, vice president, Criminal Justice Reform Initiatives, Stand Together. “We are proud to partner with USA Today to promote greater trust and collaboration between law enforcement and the communities they serve by elevating the voices of those across the country who recognize the need for greater accountability in our criminal justice system.”
