1. United States
2. Mass.
3. Letter

Federal agents are gunning people down in the streets on camera, and instead of investigating the killings the FBI is investigating the victims’ families. Employees of the state are being allowed to run wild, terrorizing us, assaulting us and disappearing us, secure in the knowledge that they’re being shielded from any consequences by law enforcement that doesn’t care about the law. Americans desperately need more power to fight for our rights. We shouldn’t have to rely on the government to seek justice over injustices committed by that same government. Right now, we are effectively blocked from suing federal officials for damages in federal court when they violate our constitutional rights. The Supreme Court has rendered the Bivens doctrine useless, leaving them for all intents and purposes above the law. Unless the state is willing to act on our behalf, they can get away with harming us and there’s not much we can do about it. Members of both parties and folks from across the political spectrum have long argued this sort of impunity is dangerous, and there have been numerous proposals over the years to allow individuals to pursue damages to protect our fundamental freedoms. There have been several introduced already in this Congress, including the Accountability for Federal Law Enforcement Act (S. 3470) and the Bivens Act (H.R. 6091/S. 3187). Please add your support to one of these Bivens reform efforts and work to pass it into law as soon as possible. Let Americans stand up for ourselves.