Following the emancipation of enslaved Black people, instead of protecting these new citizens, law enforcement lashed out with prolific abuse, brutality, and unchecked murder. The 14th amendment was supposed to address this terror and violence, and guarantee Black people equal protection under the law.

Yet, more than 150 years later, Black Americans are routinely harmed and killed by police in clear violation of their civil and constitutional rights. While a few cases make waves in national and international news because of mass protests, justice is rarely served, and hundreds more people die in police custody each year.

Congress is trying to right these wrongs through legislation that keeps getting blocked in the ongoing gridlock in the House and Senate. But we don't have to wait for Congress. The Department of Justice can act now.

As the highest law enforcement agency in the United States, the DOJ can, and MUST, reopen the cases of people who died in police custody. These deaths are often swept under the rug by district attorneys who refuse to prosecute their cop buddies and justify their crimes, and medical examiners whose reports return highly unlikely results about how these people died.

On August 28, 2021, civil rights leaders will lead a March on Washington to demand the freedom to vote. After that march, scores of parents who have lost their children in questionable circumstances while in police custody will march directly to the Department of Justice with these demands:

The Department of Justice must reopen every case of a death in police custody going back at least 15 years and conduct robust investigations. Every person, agency, and institution that has obstructed justice for people unjustly murdered must be held to account.

We must show the DOJ that there is a groundswell of support among the American people to not only stop police brutality and murder now, but to deliver justice for victims and families who have been ignored and silenced.

Sign the petition: The Department of Justice MUST use its power to bring justice for all people killed in police custody.